


After moon

by dahyunayeon



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, F/F, Fluff, Light Angst, not in first person i realized the summary makes it sound like it is lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-09-18 08:25:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 31,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16991460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dahyunayeon/pseuds/dahyunayeon
Summary: When you're obligated to spend time with the person who annoys you the most, things can get a little tricky. Especially if that person used to be your best friend, and with so many things left unsaid it's only a matter of time before everything goes downhill.





	1. How bad could it be?

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome! A little heads up, Hyejoo (S), Heejin (G), Hyunjin (S) and Yerim (H) are in their fifth year and they're 16 years old. Jiwoo (H) and Jungeun (G) are 17, sixth years; and Jinsol (R) and Sooyoung (S) are 18 and on their seventh year. 
> 
> I hope you like this fic!

Heejin squeezed her eyes and took a deep breath as her chair shook, making it really hard to keep the dirt pouring into the pot from spilling. Hyunjin had been throwing little pieces of paper at her between giggles since the herbology class had started and when Heejin didn’t budge, she resorted to kicking her chair in what seemed to be some song’s rhythm.

“What do you want?!” Heejin turned around exasperated only to find Hyunjin and Jungeun containing their laughter behind their hands.

“Jeon, I don’t know about you but I’m trying to concentrate over here, so I’d appreciate it if you could keep quiet.”

Heejin reached for the rake on the desk ready to murder the Slytherin, but Hyejoo’s hand stopped her before Heejin could even grab it.

“Do you really think stabbing her with that thing is gonna do any good?” Hyejoo asked before throwing a pleading glare at her housemate.

“Yes, it will give me peace.” Hyejoo had talked to Hyunjin multiple times about her fixation in Heejin, but the Slytherin assured her it was only because it “was her job to annoy the most popular Gryffindor in the school,” and “what kind of Slytherin would she be if she didn’t.” Hyejoo had made a face at her that time, and Hyunjin apologized quickly when she realized she had probably hurt the younger girl’s feelings (after all, Hyunjin wasn’t a real bully); Hyejoo knew some Slytherins didn’t like her because she only hung out with people from other houses, but it was just her luck that both the friends she made on the first day ended up in Hufflepuff and Gryffindor.

When class was dismissed, Heejin hurried out of the classroom before Hyunjin could try anything else, clenching her fist and murmuring curse words.

“I swear I’m gonna kill her one day,” Heejin complained as she stomped towards the castle. Then, as Hyejoo was finally catching up, Heejin turned around abruptly. “You’re gonna help me get back to her.”

“What? Oh no, I’m not getting involved in this. No way.” Hyejoo shook her head but Heejin was heading inside again.

“Oh, come on, Hye. It’s not like she’s your friend.”

“But she knows where I sleep…” Hyejoo mumbled, very afraid of what Hyunjin could do if she ever found out about Hyejoo messing with her.

“Oh! That’s right, you also know where she sleeps!” Heejin said excitedly, the gears in her head working really fast.

“Absolutely not, Heejin. She rooms with Sooyoung! I’m too young to die,” Hyejoo grabbed Heejin by the shoulders, stopping her by the entrance of the castle. “By reacting this way you’re giving her what she wants, just ignore her, ok? I have to go now but please make sure to not murder anyone today.”

“Tomorrow, then.” Heejin joked as to try and give Hyejoo some ease, her friend getting stressed very easily.

“Sure.” Hyejoo sighed calmly and waved at Heejin, heading towards the Hufflepuff common room.

Heejin looked at her friend walking down the hallway, and with a huff made her way to her own common room.

_Hmm… Who can I bribe to get blonde hair dye on Hyunjin’s shampoo…?_

//

 

Hyejoo tapped the barrels following to the rhythm Yerim had taught her and slid inside. Only a few students were laying on the couches and Hyejoo waved at them on her way to the rooms; most of the Hufflepuffs were used to having her there all the time. Hyejoo had always liked the Hufflepuff dorms, a warm and cozy place that had a very homey feeling, unlike the Slytherin room, which was dark, cold, and with wet walls most of the time, causing her hair to be a _mess._ She made her way to the room she was already so familiar with and leaned against the wall before knocking three times. A muffled _come in!_ could be heard from inside and Hyejoo opened the door slowly, giggling when she saw Yerim under at least five covers.

“Already feeling cold, Yerimmie?” Hyejoo mocked as she took her robes off, and Yerim stretched her arms out of the blankets, motioning for her friend to go over there. But Hyejoo pretended to not know what Yerim wanted, instead choosing to inspect the plants Yerim’s roommate had hanging by the window.

“Ollie,” Yerim called, dragging the ‘e’ and Hyejoo smiled at the old nickname.

“Hmm?”

“Come lay with me…” Hyejoo could feel the pout in Yerim’s voice, and she would fool absolutely no one if she said the younger girl didn’t make her heart flutter. So she gave in, approaching the bed and taking off her shoes before squirming into it.

Yerim hugged her the second Hyejoo settled down.

“Hi.” Yerim said looking into Hyejoo’s eyes and the girl knew her cheeks were probably bright red, but she wouldn’t dare look away.

“Hey, you,” Hyejoo mumbled, but after five seconds of staring into Yerim’s eyes it was too much for her, so she tried to get some blankets off of her, just to have an excuse to hide her face behind her hair. “It’s only November, you know? There’s no need for this many covers.”

“You know I’m a chilly person!” Yerim pouted again and Hyejoo feared for her heart’s health. “Stop that, just cuddle me.”

“Let me take at least one of these off. I’ll hug you so you won’t get cold, I promise.” Yerim accepted the deal and immediately intertwined their legs together, resting her head on the crook of Hyejoo’s neck.

“How was your day?” Yerim mumbled against Hyejoo’s shoulder.

“Well, Heejin almost stabbed Hyunjin with a rake during herbology, I got to pet a hippogriff and Chaewon let me steal a cupcake from the Ravenclaw table during breakfast, so, pretty good I guess.”

“Ah, yes, a day like every other.” Yerim giggled, tickling Hyejoo’s neck.

“What about you?”

“Well, I had a lovely nap during history, I got a B in my potions essay which is more than I could ask for, it’s Friday and I get to cuddle with you until dinner. I’m doing alright.”

They continued chatting amicably until they started falling asleep in each other’s arms. It wasn’t the first time, and it definitely wouldn’t be the last, but that didn’t stop Jiwoo from squealing when she came to the room two hours later to find Hyejoo with her cheek pressed to Yerim’s forehead.

 

Jiwoo wished she had a camera right then.

 

 

//

 

 

Heejin laid in her bed staring at the ceiling, trying really hard to get Hyunjin out of her head.

They met in their first year, both riding the same boat, looking astonished at the castle for the first time. She remembered the way they stuck to each other in the great hall waiting to be sorted, how Hyunjin squeezed her hand when Heejin was called up to the sorting hat, the toothy grin and thumbs up Hyunjin gave her when the hat yelled _Gryffindor!_

She wondered what went wrong. _When_ it went wrong. Because Hyunjin and her were close friends, not caring about being in rival houses or anything silly like that. Heejin thought about the sweet, caring girl that used to be her friend and wondered where she’d gone to.

Halfway through their third year, Hyunjin started acting weird, avoiding Heejin and hanging out more with the older kids (it hurt a bit, seeing Hyunjin with Jungeun in the common room in the same spot she used to share with Heejin when they played magic chess). But Heejin hadn’t asked why she pulled away, hadn’t tried to pull her back in. She just let her go and later befriended Jiwoo, Hyejoo, and Yerim.

Not a day went by without Heejin wondering what she had done wrong, but as time went on, Hyunjin was someone completely different than the girl Heejin once knew. She was more snarky now, and a bit of a troublemaker.

Heejin still remembers the first time Hyunjin messed with her. It wasn’t the note stuck to her back that hurt, it was the fact that Hyunjin did it, acting as if they had never known each other. _Ok then, have it your way,_ Heejin thought. No point in worrying about Hyunjin anymore.

Still, she couldn’t help but think about Hyunjin from time to time, like in that moment where she could feel a few tears threatening to run freely down her cheeks. _She’s not worth it,_ Heejin told herself, but she still fell asleep thinking about how warm Hyunjin’s embrace used to be.

 

 

Heejin was awakened by incessant knocking on the door, making her groan and get up without even opening her eyes. When she finally reached the handle after tripping with everything her roommate left around the floor, she opened one eye and found Haseul on the other side of the door, holding a squirming Yeojin by the ear.

“What the-” Before Heejin could open both eyes Haseul had already pushed past her and into the room, letting go of Yeojin to take a menacing stance supposed to intimidate her (Heejin’s not gonna lie; when Haseul got angry for real she could be _very_ scary).

“I found this little gremlin sneaking into the Slytherin showers with this not-at-all suspicious bottle of blonde dye,” Haseul said holding the bottle up, and Heejin turned around to glare at a very regretful Yeojin.

“Yeojinnie, why did you want to dye your hair blonde in the Slytherin showers, of all places?” Heejin feigned ignorance.

“Oh, hell no, you’re not gonna throw me under the bus, because I already threw _you_! Haseul knows everything!” Yeojin said stomping to stand behind Haseul, sticking her tongue out at the fuming Gryffindor.

“Heejin, come with me please.” Haseul motioned for the door and Heejin looked down at her attire: old bunny shorts her mom got her for her tenth birthday (mind you, she’s just turned sixteen), and a Holyhead harpies t-shirt that belonged to her older sister, which had more holes than t-shirts should have.

“At least let me change first…” Heejin asked a bit horrified at the idea of someone else seeing her like this.

“There’s no time, we need to go now.” Haseul grabbed her hand and started dragging her out the room, and Heejin managed to snatch a sweater from a chair near the door before it closed shut.

“Sure! Leave me here, it doesn’t matter!” Yeojin rolled her eyes, closing the door with a thud when she left the room.

 

~

Haseul opened the door to the prefect’s meeting room and Heejin’s heart dropped when she saw who was inside.

“Oh my, I’m loving that sweater Heejin! Must be the latest trend in Seoul, I bet.” Hyunjin mocked from her place sprawled out on a chair, making Heejin blush both from embarrassment and anger. Sadly, the sweater she grabbed was Yerim’s one that had Winnie-the-pooh drawings plastered all over.

“Hyunjin, cut it. Heejin, please sit over here.” Vivi said with a kind smile standing behind a desk, and Heejin complied because she could never disobey Vivi. So she took a seat as far from Hyunjin as possible and crossed her legs in a classy manner ( _much unlike Hyunjin’s terrible posture)._

“Can you tell me why we’re here now?” Hyunjin asked disinterestedly.

“Because this rivalry you have needs to end. Hyejoo has told me she’s worried about you, Heejin, and believe it or not Hyunjin, Jungeun also reached out saying you need help,” The look on Hyunjin’s face could only be described as betrayed, while Heejin understood why Hyejoo reached out for Haseul. “And as prefects, it is our job to help you both.”

“You’re a Ravenclaw and Vivi is a Hufflepuff, you’re not _our_ prefects.” Hyunjin tried but quickly shut up with one stare from Vivi.

“Wrong. We are everyone’s prefects, and I don’t think you would like to go over to Slytherin’s prefect or to a professor, would you, Hyunjin?” Haseul asked and Hyunjin opened her eyes wide, shaking her head.

“You’re right, Nayeon is gonna leave me hanging from a post or something. Ok, so what do you suggest?”

“You can’t seriously be considering it,” Heejin said but Hyunjin only shrugged.

“Well, you two definitely need to get along, and we figured that the way to do that is by getting to know each other more. Neither of you are bad kids, you just happen to annoy each other for some reason.”

“She is the annoying one!” Heejin complained pointing at Hyunjin, who was sticking her tongue out at her, annoyed because Haseul clearly didn’t know about their past.

“Don’t act all innocent, princess, you have counter-attacked every single one of my jokes and sometimes even started them.”

“You are such a liar!”

“How about you stop whining and shut up for one second! Let’s hear what they have to say!”

“Thanks, Hyunjin,” Vivi interfered, resting a hand on Heejin’s shoulder to calm her down. “Hyunjin is flanking a lot in her charms class, and Heejin is one of the top students. So, we have checked both of your schedules and have decided that you will be having tutoring sessions on Tuesdays and Fridays until we say so.”

“Absolutely not.” Heejin stood up offended and tried to leave before Haseul stopped her.

“If you don’t agree, we’re gonna have to tell the heads of your houses, and that means a more serious detention.”

“So you agree this is is a punishment?” Heejin dropped her head on the desk and started whining, only for Vivi to swat her softly in the head.

 

“Come on, princess, how bad could it be?”

 

//

 

“So what I’m hearing is… Haseul said you have to tutor Hyunjin?”

“Yes.”

“And you told her you’d rather drink toilet water.”

“Yup.”

“Then she offered to buy you pizza if you agreed and you declined?”

“Again, yes.”

Yerim groaned and threw her arms in the air, accidentally hitting Jiwoo when she dropped them back on the table.

“You huge idiot! We could be eating pizza now! You know they don’t sell that at Hogsmeade and we only go to London like twice a year.”

“I’m not gonna trade my sanity for a piece of greasy food, Yerm.” Heejin said firmly as she ate her greasy chicken leg.

“I don’t think it’s such a bad idea, Jinnie. Maybe now you two can finally talk and work things out.” Jiwoo said with a warm smile.

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

Noticing that Heejin was very upset, the girls decided to let the topic go. Jiwoo was in the middle of telling them how she once got her hand stuck in a honey jar when Jungeun showed up, clearing her throat softly.

“Uh, Jiwoo. Hi,” Jungeun stood straighter than ever and had her hands behind her back, looking everywhere but at Jiwoo’s face, which now had a weird dreamy look. “You forgot this the other day.” Jungeun handed Jiwoo a worn out hair tie (the one with little stars on it, Jiwoo’s favorite).

“Oh, thank you, I didn’t realize.” Jiwoo stood up awkwardly and took it, giving Jungeun a lopsided grin that had everyone else at the table wondering what the hell was going on. After three minutes of Jiwoo and Jungeun standing awkwardly smiling at each other, Yerim decided to stand up as well and remind Jiwoo they had to go to class.

“Right, right… so, um, see you soon, Jungeun.” Jiwoo said shyly and didn’t wait for a reply before dashing off holding Yerim’s arm. Heejin and Hyejoo, who were still sitting at the Hufflepuff table, glanced up at Jungeun who was too focused staring at Jiwoo to notice the girls looking at her.

“What’s going on?” Hyejoo whispered and Heejin could only shrug, feeling as lost as her friend.

“I wish I knew.”

 

The girls parted ways to go to their respective classes, and Heejin was distractedly walking in the corridor when she turned a corner and ran into someone. The person held her by the shoulders so she wouldn’t fall, and when Heejin looked up to see Hyunjin, she blushed at their proximity.

“You should  be more careful, don’t you think?” Hyunjin grinned and Heejin frowned, pushing her away slightly.

“Excuse me, I have places to be.” She tried to walk past Hyunjin but the girl trapped her against the wall with her arm.

“Not so fast, Jeon. I told Haseul we would have those tutoring classes. And don’t complain, it won’t be that bad and you don’t have to actually help or talk to me. We just have to be in the classroom Haseul chooses and be there for as long as she wants, which will be like an hour and a half. What’s there to lose?”

“My precious time.” Heejin huffed resting against the wall, not making any real effort to get Hyunjin away from her.

“As if you did anything else. _I_ am in the quidditch team, and I have to run after our lessons to the field, but you don’t see me complaining.”

“You’re so bold, Hyunjin. You’re the reason we’re in this situation so you have no right to complain. If you just stopped messing with me we could both be doing our own thing, away from each other, since I thought that’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?” Heejin said with more bite in her voice than she intended to, but she had been holding it in for so long that now she couldn’t help but snap. “You can do whatever Haseul tells you but I know that no matter what we do we’re not gonna get along, not again; and mind you I do have stuff to do other than waste my time helping a selfish, self-centered, annoying girl like you. Now leave me alone.”

This time when Heejin pushed her arm, Hyunjin let her go, standing in the hallway with a sour taste in her mouth. She stood there for a while, staring at the spot where Heejin had been standing, and she bit her lip when she felt tears well in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away and started walking to the quidditch field. She didn’t need charm classes anyway.

 

 


	2. Castle hallways.

“Um, are you sure about this, Ollie?” Yerim asked staring at the brooms in Hyejoo’s hands.

“Of course, dummy, I know I didn’t make the team but I’m good at flying, believe me.”

“No, yeah, I know you’re good it’s just that… heights… me sitting on a literal stick…”

Hyejoo giggled and shoved Yerim with her shoulder softly, leaving the brooms on the floor and looking towards Jiwoo and Chaewon who were sitting on the bleachers playing some card game.

“Even Jiwoo flew with me once, and look at how nice the day is! I promise it will be fun.” Hyejoo tried, giving Yerim her best puppy eyes knowing the girl would end up giving in.

“Can I fly with you? I don’t want to do it by myself…” Yerim asked a bit embarrassed, looking at her feet.

“Of course, but relax Yerimmie, I won’t let anything bad happen, I promise,” Hyejoo smiled and mounted the broom, motioning for Yerim to sit behind her. “Hold on tight, ok? I’ll go slow.”

Hyejoo took off and she could feel Yerim clinging very tightly to her sweater, hiding her face in the back of Hyejoo’s head. But as Hyejoo did a few laps around the pitch, Yerim started to relax and instead of having an iron-grip on Hyejoo she just hugged her waist and rested her cheek against her friend’s shoulder.

“ This _is_ kind of nice,” Yerim commented and Hyejoo smiled, speeding up a bit and enjoying the giggles coming out of Yerim’s mouth. “Let’s fly near the girls.”

Hyejoo chuckled at her friend’s idea but complied nonetheless. Both Hyejoo and Yerim laughed loudly when they darted by their friends, making their cards fly in the air.

“No! I was finally going to win!” Chaewon yelled and Jiwoo laughed as well, pointing at the blonde mockingly.

“The universe doesn’t want you to win, Wonnie.”

“Fuck the universe, who needs this muggle game, anyway.” Chaewon said kicking the seat and almost slipping, making Jiwoo laugh once again.

“That’s what you get for disrespecting UNO.”

 

When Hyejoo and Yerim’s laugh died down, Yerim tried to meet Hyejoo’s eyes from behind the girl. “You know what I always wanted to do?”

“Hmm?”

 “Fly over the lake.”

“You were so scared an hour ago.” Hyejoo chuckled, and Yerim only shrugged.

“If I don’t ask now I might never get the chance to. Besides, I know it will be better if I go with you, not to mention safer.” 

Hyejoo’s cheeks were red and it wasn’t completely because of the sun hitting her face.

 “What about those two?” Hyejoo asked pointing with her head to her friends who seemed to be having some kind of wrestling showdown.

“They won’t notice. Now let’s go! The sun is about to set, it will be like a romantic movie.” Yerim gushed and Hyejoo sighed dreamily, starting to head towards the lake. Once they were there, she looked at the orange sunlight reflecting on the water, at the little drops that splashed as they flew over, and the way Yerim had her eyes closed, hair flying with the wind.

 

Yeah, just like a romantic movie.

 

 

//

 

 

Heejin often decided to spend Sundays by herself, making the most of her free time. It’s not that she didn’t love her friends, but she needed a break every now and then from seeing them every day, and it was nice just curling up in her bed and reading the stack of Quibbler magazines by the bedside table. Today was no different, Heejin had stayed in her room for most of the day, catching up on the sleep she didn’t get throughout the week.

But lately, being alone also meant more time to think, which in Heejin’s case, led to overthinking more often than not. And it wasn’t like she was worried about her defense against the dark arts essay, or something she could just sleep away. The thoughts of Hyunjin wouldn’t leave her alone, preventing her from sleeping well at night and from paying attention in class (which accidentally led to Jiwoo getting a pair of donkey ears).

 It was like Hyunjin was always at the back of her mind, and Heejin hated it.

Not only had Heejin let Hyunjin drift away without trying to keep her around, but she had also treated her horribly, and even if Heejin thought Hyunjin lowkey deserved it, she still felt regretful.

Her growling stomach was the only thing that could pull her mind away from the Slytherin, so she decided to go by the kitchens and try to grab a slice of cake before dinner.

(If the chocolate cake the elves made wasn’t a good enough distraction, Heejin was doomed.)

This time she made sure to grab a decent hoodie before leaving and made her way to the kitchen. She was mindlessly waiting for the stairs to align when she spotted Hyunjin in the floor below, sitting against a wall and looking at the void with a blank expression. Heejin winced when she realized she had to walk in front of her, and cursed the universe for making her situation even harder.

Heejin figured it would be best to just ignore the girl, so shewalked by, head held high, looking straight ahead, but Hyunjin didn’t budge, which made Heejin a bit suspicious; she had been expecting some snarky comment or even for the girl to trip her with her feet, but it seemed like Hyunjin hadn’t even noticed her. Heejin stood in the hallway pondering what to do, before deciding talking to Hyunjin would only make matters worse.

The domestic elves were nice and let Heejin take a huge piece of cake, as well as a little muffin on her way out. When she passed by the hallway again, Hyunjin was gone, and Heejin’s grip on the cupcake loosened a bit. Not that she was planning on giving it to Hyunjin, or anything like that. _It’s better if she’s not here,_ Heejin told herself, even if lately it was becoming harder and harder to believe herself.

 

~

 

“Hey, Hyun, we’re going to Hogsmeade, do you wanna come along?” Sooyoung asked from her place near the door, trying to catch Hyunjin’s eyes from beneath the million blankets covering her friend.

“No, thank you, Soo. I have some homework to catch up on.” Hyunjin lied and turned around in her bed, closing her eyes when she felt it dip.

“You would never turn down a chance to go to honeydukes because you have _homework…_ Spill, kid. What’s going on?” Sooyoung placed a hand on Hyunjin’s leg, nudging her a bit when the younger girl stayed quiet.

“Nothing’s up, seriously. I’m just tired from quidditch practice is all.” Hyunjin said, reprimanding herself for the stinging sensation in her eyes.

“Hmm, I see. Well, I think Jungeun is staying in the castle, in case you need someone. I’ll make sure to bring you your favorite lollipops.” Sooyoung kissed Hyunjin’s forehead, making her finally smile and squirm a little bit. To everyone else, Sooyoung was scary and kind of a bully, but Hyunjin knew how nice and caring her friend really was.

“Take your scarf.” Hyunjin muttered as Sooyoung closed the door, giving her a thumbs up and a wink before leaving. The room felt cold, and no matter how many blankets Hyunjin used she still couldn’t heat up. The day wasn’t even that cold, but for some reason, her hands felt frozen.

She decided that lying around would only make her feel worse, so she gathered up the little bits of energy left in her body to get up from bed and change into something not hideous. She thought about looking for Jungeun, but the second she made it to the common room with all the noisy first-years, she decided she needed to be alone for a while. So she just wandered around the castle, staring at the paintings that stared back at her and counting how many steps the stairs had.

 

To say she was feeling dull would be an understatement.

 

She grew bored of just walking around and sat down in an empty hallway, staring at her untied shoes. Hyunjin was lost in thought when she heard someone walking towards her, and didn’t need to turn her head to know who it was (the ugly hoodie she could see from the corner of her eye was telling enough).  Of course, she didn’t have the energy to fight, so she just ignored Heejin, holding her breath when she stopped in the corridor.

 

_Go away. Go away._

As soon as Heejin was out of sight, Hyunjin stood up and headed upstairs, thinking of somewhere to hide; it was already dark outside and the grounds were too cold without the sun to warm them up, so she figured an empty classroom was her best option. She knew she had no real reason to run away from Heejin, but seeing her made her feels things she _absolutely_ couldn’t afford to feel, so she figured being away from the Gryffindor would be the best. Hyunjin was speedwalking when a door opened all of sudden, almost hitting her straight in the face.

“Hey! What’s wrong with- oh my, _what_ is going on?” Hyunjin asked opening her eyes wide when she saw very flustered Jungeun come out of a classroom- followed by an equally, if not more flustered Jiwoo.

“Uh….” Jungeun began but soon she turned as red as the tie around her neck, and Hyunjin could hear the gears in Jiwoo’s head trying to come up with something.

“We’re in the same tutoring program as you and Heejin.” Jiwoo said with a very serious expression and Hyunjin _almost_ believed her.

“Oh, yeah? Where are your books?” Hyunjin asked crossing her arms and squinting at Jungeun who kept avoiding her eyes.

“We were practicing transfiguration.” Jiwoo nodded and Hyunjin was impressed with the Hufflepuff's ability to lie. Hyunjin didn’t buy it for a second, though, and Jungeun looked like she would pass out, so Hyunjin decided to tease them a bit before leaving them alone.

“Alright, then. How nice of you Jiwoo, helping Jungeunnie, I’m sure she’s giving you _all_ of her attention, no?”

“Yes, Hyunjin, she _is_ very attentive.”

“Okay, I need to go.” Jungeun blurted out and tried to push past her friend, but Hyunjin wouldn’t let her go so easily. Hyunjin grabbed her arm and yanked her back, wrapping her arm around her shoulder and smiling at Jiwoo.

“Not so fast, don’t you have to thank Jiwoo for the classes?”

Jungeun stared at her feet and Hyunjin was sure the blonde was asking for the floor to open up and swallow her. 

“Thank you, Jiwoo,” Jungeun mumbled and closed her eyes shut, and Hyunjin snorted when she heard her mumble _god please end my suffering_ under her breath.

“Ok, Jiwoo, dear, I’ll see you at history class, hm? Bye bye.” The smirk on Hyunjin’s tone was evident as she made Jungeun turn around and away from Jiwoo, laughing loudly once they were far enough.

“What the fuck, Kim.” Jungeun pushed Hyunjin, stomping angrily down the corridor, trying to get to the Gryffindor tower as soon as possible.

“What’s wrong, Kim, I was just making sure you showed Jiwoo your manners, even though I’m sure you’ve shown her plenty.” At this Jungeun stopped abruptly, getting really close to Hyunjin and grabbing her by the neck of her sweater.

“I’m gonna beat you up, you know I would.”

“You have a bit blood on your lip.” Hyunjin patted Jungeun’s cheek slightly before freeing herself from the blonde’s grasp and running to the dungeons.

“Watch your fucking back!” Jungeun yelled angrily, already thinking of ways to get her revenge.

 

It didn’t help that the Fat Lady pointed out her slightly bruised lips.

 

~

 

“Slow down, Jungeun,” Jiwoo giggled as the blonde dragged her by the wrist through the sixth-floor hallway. “It’s not like we’re gonna get caught, there’s no one here.”

“Didn’t you say your friends looked at you suspiciously when you left them on the grounds?”

“Yeah, but they’re not here, no need for you to be so secretive.”

Jungeun stopped in front of a classroom and once she made sure no one was inside, opened the door for Jiwoo. “After you, m’lady.”

Jiwoo chuckled and grabbed Jungeun’s cheeks, kissing her.

Jungeun blushed and closed the door behind them, giggling when Jiwoo wrapped her arms around her neck and started peppering kisses all over the blonde’s face, leading them towards a desk which she sat on.

“Does it bother you that we’re not telling anyone?” Jungeun asked the best she could with Jiwoo’s lips against her own, hugging the Hufflepuff's waist. Jiwoo pulled apart and cradled Jungeun’s face softly, making the blonde sigh.

“Sometimes, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. I mean, I get to make out with you without giving Hyunjin or Heejin a heart attack.”

“It’s Heejin you should worry about. Hyunjin would probably find it very amusing, tease me a bit, then get on board with it.” Jiwoo nodded and chuckled, nosing at Jungeun’s cheek.

“You’re right, Heejin would cry about me fraternizing with the enemy and then call me a traitor. Maybe even punch me if she feels very betrayed.”

“I wouldn’t let that happen.” Jungeun joked, puffing her chest.

“Yeah, right. No offense, babe, but if you got in between a vindictive Heejin and her target, aka me, you would most likely end up stuck to the ceiling or surrounded by very angry bees.”

“That… sounds very specific.” Jungeun said, ignoring the way her heart fluttered when Jiwoo called her babe.

“Yeah, well, I should’ve known better than letting an easily angered witch playing at a claw machine game in the middle of a muggle fair.”

“I love when you talk about muggle stuff, but I don’t know what that is.” Jungeun murmured with her lips leaving feather-light kisses in the corner of Jiwoo’s mouth.

“Maybe one day I can show you.” Jiwoo smiled and grabbed Jungeun by the neck, kissing her properly.

_Yeah, one day._

 

 

//

 

 

After the whole Jungeun-Jiwoo incident, Hyunjin’s day had gotten a lot brighter (teasing really lifted her mood) and it got even better when Jinsol and Sooyoung showed up with a bag full of sweets just for her, and a butterbeer Jinsol sneaked in to “cheer her baby up.”

( _“I’m not a baby, Jinsol.”_

_“What was that? Sooyoung, I think the baby is learning to speak!” Jinsol said, ruffling Hyunjin’s hair.)_

But even if the weekend had been rescued by her friends, nothing could make Tuesday less horrible.

 

Hyunjin finished her classes and was just about to go take a well-deserved nap when she saw Haseul and Vivi walking down the hallway. Hyunjin quickly hid behind a pillar, peaking over her shoulder only to realize the couple was too busy grossly staring into each other’s eyes to notice her.

Still, she weighed her options: she could show up at the designated classroom, go to her room after Heejin’s inevitable absence and get on Haseul’s good side; or she could go straight to her room and face the high probabilities of Vivi dragging her by her tie to some teacher’s office, or worse, leaving Nayeon to deal with her.

Yeah, her nap could wait.

Hyunjin tried not to gasp when she opened the door of the classroom and found Heejin already sitting there, head resting against her arms. The Slytherin considered leaving before Heejin noticed, but it was too late, as the Gryffindor turned to look at her with droopy eyes.

“Hey…” _Fuck._

“Hi… I didn’t think you’d be here.” Hyunjin said, closing the door and standing close to the other girl.

“I could say the same thing about you.” Heejin mumbled.

Hyunjin didn’t know what else to say, so she opted for sitting a few desks away from Heejin.

“Is Haseul supposed to show up?”

“Nope, she said we have to work this out by ourselves.”

“That’s some shitty organization…”

Heejin snorted and finally lifted her head from the desk, standing up to dust her skirt. “I know I said I wouldn’t do it, but I can still tutor you.”

“I  thought you had better things to do than helping a self-centered bitch.”

“Hey, I didn’t call you a bitch.”

“But you wanted to,” Hyunjin mumbled, reminded of the things Heejin had told her and feeling upset again. _Why do I care so much about what she thinks of me?_ “It’s ok, really. Don’t sweat it.”

“I’m really sorry, Hyunjin, I shouldn’t have said all of that. It’s just that I’ve been kind of tired lately, and I snapped at you. I didn’t mean all those things I said.”

 “You don’t have to apologize, everything you said was true,” _I should be the one apologizing._

They remained in silence for a while, neither too sure of what to say to make the situation less awkward. When Hyunjin saw Heejin fiddling with her hands on her lap, she remembered that to be a habit of hers, and how Hyunjin would hold her hand to let her play with her fingers instead. She didn’t like the weird feeling in her chest (that she had been trying so hard to suppress) so she figured acting like nothing happened would be the best option, at least until they could be apart. She stood up and took her wand out of her sock, catching Heejin’s attention. “Let’s just have the class, ok?”

“I can’t believe you still keep your wand there.” Heejin chuckled standing up as well and moving a few desks away to make more space.

“I’ve only done it again recently, my pockets are full of holes because I tried washing my robes with a spell and, well, it didn’t work.”

It felt weird, to be chatting with Heejin like this, like they did years ago.

“You haven’t changed that much, I see.” Heejin giggled.

 

And by the way Hyunjin’s heart was beating a bit too fast, she knew Heejin was right. Absolutely nothing had changed.


	3. Downpour.

No matter how much Heejin wished her relationship with Hyunjin would change after their tutoring class, it simply wasn’t the case.

 

While Hyunjin hadn’t been terrible during their Tuesday class, she had started to avoid Heejin the second she set foot out of the classroom. She didn’t show up to their Friday class and seemed to have disappeared during the weekend.

(Not that Heejin was looking for her, but her eyes couldn’t help but drift to the Slytherin table during breakfast.)

After a week feeling very grumpy, it was finally Monday, and both girls had divination class together. Heejin was having an internal debate about whether or not she should corner Hyunjin and ask what her problem was, staring intently into her oatmeal bowl as if it had all the answers she needed. When a pair of fingers snapped in front of her face, she finally broke out of her daze.

“Heejin, we’ve been calling your name for the past five minutes.” Hyejoo said worriedly.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you. What’s up?”

“I don’t know Heekkie, you tell us. You were staring at your food like it personally insulted your mother and you look like a stampede of ogres ran you over. And what is this?” Yerim asked, swiping her finger under Heejin’s eyes and collecting a sticky orangey substance.

“Muggle remedy for dark circles under the eyes, I got it last summer when we visited Jiwoo.”

“I don’t think you applied it right, it looks like you got an infection.” Yerim insisted, grabbing a napkin and cleaning her friend’s eyes.

“Seriously, Heejin, what’s wrong?” Chaewon asked making Heejin huff. She knew her friends were asking because they cared, but she was growing impatient.

“Nothing, ok? I just haven’t been able to get much sleep lately, my roommate snores.” Heejin ignored Chaeyoung’s _I don’t snore_ from the other end of the table and gave Yerim a tired but thankful smile once the Hufflepuff deemed Heejin’s eyes to be ok.

“You know that if something else is going on you can tell us, right?” Chaewon asked laying her hand on Heejin’s knee, and the girl nodded, muttering a soft _I know, thanks._

Heejin cleared her throat and stood up, deciding to leave before they kept asking. “We have divination now, Hye, we should get going.”

 

Heejin wished her friends would stop worrying so much; every time they asked what was wrong, the confusion inside of her only grew bigger, because she didn’t know what was going on either. Normally, she would be thrilled to be as far away from Hyunjin as possible, hell, she would have wished for the girl to never show up again. But now, she was worried about the Slytherin, wondering if she had done something to make her go away, _again._

On their walk to the divination tower, Hyejoo just intertwined her arm with Heejin’s and remained quiet, not pressing on the subject which made Heejin immediately feel better. There was something calming about being with Hyejoo that made the girl the best person to go to when in trouble. She was quiet but could offer advice when needed, was a good listener, a great hugger, and she was strong enough to hold an angry Heejin in muggle funfairs to save Jiwoo’s life.

When they walked into the classroom, Heejin was surprised to find Hyunjin already sprawled out in one of the couches. She tightened her grip on Hyejoo’s arm and guided her to one of the seats farthest from Hyunjin.

(Hyejoo, bless her soul, didn’t say anything when Heejin hid behind her, peaking her eyes over Hyejoo’s shoulder.)

The professor started the class shortly after, and only when she was checking the attendance did Hyunjin speak up.

“Where is Kim?”

“Here.” Hyunjin said, lifting her arm lazily

“No, no, Kim Jungeun.”

“Ah, I have no idea.” She seemed upset that her friend wasn’t there, after all, divination could be a real pain in the ass if you spent the class alone.

“Well, please join another group so you can work today,” The professor scanned the room and both Hyejoo and Heejin kept their stare fixed on the table in front of them, hoping to become invisible but- “Come on, join Son and Jeon over here.” _Fuck._

Hyunjin was going to complain but the teacher had already turned around to prepare the lesson, and Hyunjin couldn’t afford to fail yet another subject (didn’t want to end up like Jungeun having to retake _divination_.) She stood up reluctantly and sat down next to Hyejoo awkwardly.

“Hey there, Hyejoo. Heejin.”

“Hello, Hyunjin.” Hyejoo smiled at her housemate but Heejin only hummed, too interested in the dust flying around to look at Hyunjin.

The class started without anything out of the ordinary, with professor Trelawney doing some dramatic stuff to introduce the assignment.

“As you can see, there are crystal balls in each of the tables. We will be studying them this semester and by the end of it, you should be able to use it like a professional.” She gave some more explanations and started to pick students to read their fortunes, but Heejin found herself lost in her own thoughts again. It seemed to be a bad habit of hers lately, zoning out, because then she found herself in these situations: being called out and having no idea what for.

“Huh?” Heejin snapped out of her zoned out state and found all eyes on her, the teacher looking at her expectantly.

“It’s your turn, Jeon.”Heejin looked at Hyejoo pleadingly but she could only shrug, no way of getting Heejin out of this one. Trelawney started her usual show before the smoke inside the ball started to move, catching Heejin’s attention.

“Oh my, such interesting events coming your way… I see the past is haunting you, filling you with guilt and uncertainty… I see betrayal and hurt, but there also seems to be forgiveness. You will find that peace you’ve been looking for, and the wounds from the past will finally start to heal... I see an old friend coming back, and, oh my, could it be- an old friend turned lover?” Trelawney looked up to find an absolutely petrified Heejin, cheeks puffed and face as red as the Gryffindor crest on her chest. The bell rang and everyone dashed out of the room, not caring about the rest of Heejin’s (mis)fortune.

But Heejin stood frozen in her seat, not daring to look towards Hyunjin.

Thankfully, Hyejoo reacted for her and held her hand to drag her out of the classroom, shouting a quick _goodbye_ to the professor and leaving a very stunned Hyunjin behind.

When Hyunjin stayed there with her mouth slightly agape, not moving an inch for a solid two minutes, the teacher approached her warily. “What’s the problem, dear?”

“In your vision… did you see anything else?”

“I’m sorry, I can’t seem to remember.” She shrugged and started putting the crystal balls away, so Hyunjin left, gripping the strap of her bag tightly as she rushed down the stairs.

 

“Ah, to be young and in love...” Trelawney chuckled.

 

 

//

 

 

Hyejoo plopped down on the warm couch, letting the light mood of the Hufflepuff common room engulf her. Some of the younger kids had baked cookies and were sharing them out around the castle, leaving the ones with the most chocolate chips for their housemates. Of course, Hyejoo wasn’t a Hufflepuff, but Yerim was, and she would die before denying Hyejoo as many cookies as she wanted.

Well, almost.

“Ollie, I know you’re upset, but this is the tenth cookie you’ve eaten since you got here around fifteen minutes ago.”

“M’sad ‘kay?” Hyejoo mumbled with her mouth full, pouting at Yerim. When she swallowed the cookie (with a glass of milk because Hufflepuff kids were just that nice) Yerim pulled at her arms so Hyejoo would stop sinking more and more into the couch and the cushions surrounding her.

“Tell me what’s wrong, silly.”

“It’s Heejin. She didn’t want to talk to me after divination; she rushed into the Gryffindor tower and told the fat lady to not let me in. Professor Trelawney was reading her future in the crystal ball and she said that she “was hurting but she would soon heal” and that “an old friend will turn lover”, or something like that.

Yerim pursed her lips and sat next to Hyejoo, dropping her head onto the couch backrest and staring at the ceiling. “Do you think she meant…?”

“Yeah, without a doubt. And that’s the worst part, Hyunjin was right there next to us.”

Yerim snorted and stood up from the couch with a jump, offering her hand to Hyejoo.

“Come on, you know she’s hard headed. She will talk to you when she’s ready, no need for you to be sulking in here.”

“I can go sulk somewhere else if that’s what you want,” Hyejoo said, taking Yerim’s hand to stand up as well.

“No, dummy. Come on, you’re gonna help me with my potions homework.” Yerim chuckled as she dragged Hyejoo to her room.

“What do I get in return?” Hyejoo joked, giving Yerim a sly smile.

“My undying love and affection?”

“I thought I already had that.”

Yerim looked down shyly, and slowly tucked her hair behind her ear, making Hyejoo almost trip with the steps.

“Of course you do,” Yerim leaned in and kissed Hyejoo’s cheek, running away the second she pulled away. “Race you! Loser’s a vomit flavored jelly bean!”

Hyejoo stood frozen in place for five seconds, her fingers lingering in the spot Yerim had kissed. She felt her face heat up more and more,  and it took her a while to react and start running towards Yerim’s room, ready to get into a tickle fight the second she caught her.

 

//

 

 

Heejin knew it was useless, but she still showed up to the tutoring classroom the next day. Every minute that passed without Hyunjin showing up hurt a bit, but it also angered Heejin.

At first, Hyunjin ghosting her so suddenly had made Heejin sad, and then feel guilty, but now she was simply mad. She didn’t ask what was wrong with herself, this time she asked what was wrong with _Hyunjin._ She had no real reason to ignore Heejin like this and act as if nothing had happened.

Heejin preferred when Hyunjin annoyed her, as crazy as it sounded. Why? Heejin wasn’t sure. All she knew was that she wouldn’t stand for Hyunjin giving her the cold shoulder out of nowhere like this, she deserved at least an explanation.

And she knew, _really,_ she knew it shouldn’t affect her this much, but that didn’t stop her from angrily stomping to the quidditch field where she knew she would find the Slytherin. It was cold and Heejin was wearing her autumn robes, scarf forgotten under many layers of dirty clothes in her room, so she hugged herself tighter as she approached the pitch, seeing some people flying from the distance.

When she was finally close enough, she spotted Hyunjin flying near the goal posts. Heejin felt tears prickle at the corner of her eyes, ones that tainted her cheeks as soon as Hyunjin made eye contact with her from the sky.

 

(Heejin remembered the first time Hyunjin flew on a broom, how happy she was and how she spent weeks gushing about how excited she was to join the quidditch team; and the bright smile Heejin had every time Hyunjin started talking about it. How tightly they hugged when Hyunjin made the team.

Now, the memory only made her feel bitter.)

 

The sky was dark, covered with thick clouds, and if Heejin didn’t know Hyunjin she would think the girl was crazy to be flying in those conditions. Sooyoung and Jinsol stared at them from afar as Hyunjin approached Heejin, hopping off her broom once she was close enough to the ground, but she kept her distance from Heejin, who wiped her cheeks quickly before Hyunjin removed the goggles from her eyes.

“What are you doing here?”

“Oh, so _now_ you talk to me.” Hyunjin frowned and gripped her broomstick tighter, taking a stiffer stance.

“Did you just come here to fight with me?”

“We had a class, in case you forgot.”

“I already told Haseul I quit. I’ll deal with the consequences or whatever but I wont do this anymore. Just go Heejin, I don’t know what you expect from me.” Hyunjin started to walk away, ready to fly as far as possible from the Gryffindor when Heejin grabbed her arm and turned her around, making them stand face to face.

“No, Hyunjin, you don’t get to do this anymore. I came here because I’m tired of you running away every time something doesn’t go your way. You had no right to ignore me after our tutoring class, you had no right to end our friendship without a word and you definitely didn’t have any right to act like we never called each other _best friend_ and start annoying the living hell out of me. I’m tired of you being a coward, and I came here to ask, no, to _demand_ an explanation, and I hope you know I’m not leaving without one.”

Hyunjin’s heart clenched as she stared into Heejin’s glossy eyes, full of pain and anger like Hyunjin had never seen them before. But still, she couldn’t afford to tell Heejin the truth, so she yanked her arm away from Heejin’s grasp and made what anyone with half a working brain cell would consider the dumbest decision ever.

“Look, _princess,_ the world doesn’t revolve around you. Maybe if you got your head out of your ass you would realize that what I do isn’t affected by you, it never was. Maybe I went away because I didn’t like you anymore, who knows; but I don’t owe you anything and if I don’t have the right to do whatever the fuck I want, then you don’t have the right to ask me _shit_. Messing with you was fun for a while but now it’s not and I have way better things to do, so if you could please leave me alone that’d be really neat.”

The spiteful tone in Hyunjin’s voice cut through Heejin’s heart like a dagger, and there was no stopping the hot tears wetting her face. But Hyunjin was crying, too, because she wanted nothing more than to bring Heejin close and hold her, to let Heejin grip her sweater and assure the girl that she had done nothing wrong, that it was all Hyunjin’s fault for not having the guts to own up to her feelings, for hurting Heejin like this thinking that the best for her would be to be away from the Slytherin.

But she couldn’t do that, because even after so long she was still as scared as she was when she first realized why her heart beat so fast when Heejin kissed her cheek and held her hand. So she had to gulp down all the words on the tip of her tongue begging to get out, and keep her tears at bay when Heejin pushed her.

“Fuck you, Hyunjin.”

Thunder shook the grounds, and heavy rain started to pour down as Heejin ran away from Hyunjin, leaving her standing alone in the middle of the pitch.

And then she broke down.

Hyunjin dropped to her knees and sobbed into her hands, her shoulders shaking from both the crying and the cold water seeping through her clothes. She felt two pairs of arms trying to pull her up, moving the wet hair from her face and trying to make her look at them.

“Hyun, come on, baby, let’s get to the castle.” Jinsol said with a softness reserved only for Hyunjin as Sooyoung tried to get her to stand up. After a minute, she stood on shaky legs, shaking her head as the tears continued to fall. She wanted to scream, to run to Heejin and apologize and tell her every single thing that the Gryffindor made her feel, but her throat closed up and her chest tightened more and more with every breath she took.

Hyunjin wasn’t sure how, but her friends managed to get them under the corridor’s roof in a few minutes. Hyunjin leaned against the wall and continued to cry, sliding down until she hit the floor and hugged her muddy knees, burying her head in her arms.

“Hyun, please, let’s go to the common room,” Sooyoung said crouching down in front of Hyunjin, whose cries were only getting louder. She shook her head and no matter how hard she tried, Sooyoung couldn’t get her to uncover her face. “What do we do?”

Jinsol shrugged, a bit desperate, a few tears in her own eyes from seeing her friend so broken. With a huff, she motioned for Sooyoung to move away. The blonde lifted Hyunjin in her arms with surprising strength and started carrying her towards the dungeons. Sooyoung followed suit behind them, throwing glares at the nosy students who looked their way and hurried to get all of them inside the rooms. When Jinsol left Hyunjin on the bed, Sooyoung used a drying spell on her friend who was thankfully a bit calmer, even if she was still crying.

“Let’s get you into your pajamas, baby.” Jinsol helped Hyunjin out of her dirty clothes and handed her the old t-shirt she wore to bed. When Hyunjin was finally changed, Sooyoung and Jinsol tucked her in under the covers.

“I fucked up really badly, Sol.” Hyunjin sobbed.

“Shhh, it’s ok Hyun. You have to rest now, we will figure this out tomorrow.” Jinsol stroked Hyunjin’s hair until the girl fell asleep, covering the pillowcase with her tears. Once her breath evened out, Jinsol stood up and joined Sooyoung on the other side of the bed.

“Look at this kid... She has a bit of snot in her nose,” Sooyoung commented with a face and Jinsol nudged her. “Sorry I kind of let you handle her on your own, I didn’t know what to do.”

“Don’t worry about it…” Jinsol stared at Hyunjin as if she were her little sister, and turned away with a tired sigh. “Come on, I want to get changed before dinner, and Hyun needs to sleep. I can stay the night if you want, so you don’t have to deal with her on your own.”

“That’d be nice, actually. I’d probably end up crying with her.”

Both girls left the room with a sleeping Hyunjin behind, wondering what the hell would happen with their friend now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would really like to know what you thought about this chapter, so please consider leaving a comment or if you're shy about it you can leave me a curiouscat question (which you can find on my twitter profile at dxhyunism).


	4. Healing.

Jiwoo sat with her back against the cold brick wall of the infirmary, flipping through an old Quibbler magazine. Heejin had arrived at the Gryffindor common room drenched in water and sobbing uncontrollably, or so Jungeun had told her. Jiwoo thought they were lucky Jungeun was there at that moment and not in the great hall with everyone else because otherwise Heejin would’ve gone upstairs, fallen asleep soaked as she was, and caught a really bad pneumonia.

Instead, she caught regular pneumonia; as soon as Jungeun let Jiwoo know about the younger girl, Jiwoo dashed to find her friend and took her to see Madam Pomfrey.

Heejin was already a little feverish when she found her, and she kept mumbling things Jiwoo couldn’t understand; she didn’t reply to any of Jiwoo’s questions either, only increasing the older girl’s worry. Why in the world would Heejin be out in the storm and come back crying? Jiwoo imagined a million scenarios and to be completely honest, a lot of them ended in murder.

Now, as Jiwoo read about some weird mythical creature, Heejin laid on the big infirmary bed with the much too thin covers up to her shoulders, an almost empty box of tissues next to her and the huge bottle of cough medicine she had to take. She was asleep; had passed out the second Jiwoo changed her into warm, dry clothes and she had taken her medicine.

Jiwoo shivered when a cold breeze flew through the empty room, and she regretted not bringing another coat. She had also spent the night there, had borrowed one of the quilts from the empty beds but the rain hadn’t stopped and the weather wasn’t getting any better. Jiwoo had taken her robe off a while ago and laid it on top of the few covers already on Heejin’s bed, as she wanted her friend to get better as soon as possible.

As soon as possible, so she knew whose ass to kick.

Jiwoo needed answers. Heejin wouldn’t have been crying in a storm for no reason, and Jiwoo feared it had something to do with Hyunjin; she was the only person that could have such a big effect in Heejin, whether it was her intention or not.

As if the univerese was confirming her suspicions, Jungeun walked into the infirmary carrying a very sick Hyunjin. Jinsol was with her, each of them had Hyunjin’s arms around their shoulders, and Jinsol kept huffing and complaining about how heavy Hyunjin was.

“Shut up, Sol, didn’t you carry her bridal style last night?”

“I regretted it the second she was one centimeter off the floor, but I couldn’t just drop her… Besides, I wouldn’t let Sooyoung have something else to tease me with.”

Madam Pomfrey shushed them from her little office before walking up to them and checking Hyunjin quickly. Jinsol muttered something, an explanation probably, and carried Hyunjin to a bed not to far from Heejin’s.

Jinsol hadn’t noticed Jiwoo or Heejin yet, but Jungeun had, and she quickly told Jinsol to leave it to her. If Jinsol saw Heejin after all that had happened last night, she wouldn’t hesitate to hex the poor girl. Jungeun insisted she should get to class, after all, Jinsol had potions and she couldn’t miss that (Jungeun, much like Jiwoo, had care of magical creatures which had been canceled due to obvious reasons. As for the rest of the –indoors- classes, well, skipping one day wouldn’t hurt anyone).

Once Jinsol left, Jungeun made sure Hyunjin was asleep before walking over to Jiwoo. The blonde leaned down and cupped Jiwoo’s chin, kissing her sweetly and smiling down at the girl.

“How’s she doing?”

“Not much better, really. She still can’t breath when she lays down, it’s kind of funny actually how much she snored last night.”

“Hmm, I don’t think the dark circles under your eyes found it as funny.”

“Definitely not,” Both girls giggled and Jiwoo patted her lap, making Jungeun blush. “Come on, there’s no one here.”

“Your sick friend and my sick friend are here…”

“And they’re passed out, come on. Please?” Jiwoo pouted and Jungeun, well, she couldn’t say no. She sat down on Jiwoo’s lap and the brunette immediately wrapped her arms around Jungeun’s waist, nuzzling her face in the blonde’s shoulder.

Loud thunder broke Jiwoo from her Jungeun-induced-daze, and she suddenly remembered that the very apex of Heejin’s every problem was also lying there in pretty much the same conditions as the Gryffindor.

“What the hell happened to Hyunjin?”

“Yeah, well, about that…” Jungeun winced when she felt Jiwoo stiffen under her, and turned around to face her very angry not-girlfriend.

“Spill.”

“Ok, but don’t kill the messenger! I only found out this morning, alright?” Jungeun waited until Jiwoo nodded, albeit begrudgingly, and continued. “Apparently as Hyunjin was in the quidditch pitch with Jinsol and Sooyoung last night, Heejin showed up fuming down the field. Hyunjin landed to talk to her and the girls aren’t sure what they talked about but Heejin was very angry and even pushed Hyunjin when she reached for her. Heejin ran away and Hyunjin broke down crying, but the rain had already started and there was no way they could get Hyunjin to calm down. That’s why Jinsol had to carry her to the dorm and stay up to make sure she slept well, but she kept whining in her sleep about Heejin.”

Jiwoo nodded, processing all the information Jungeun had told her. After a few minutes of silence, Jungeun started to get worried about Jiwoo’s sanity, so she poked her cheek trying to get any reaction.

“Baby?”

“I’m gonna kill Hyunjin.” Jungeun held Jiwoo by the shoulders, effectively pinning her to the chair so she didn’t actually beat her friend up. Jiwoo grunted when she realized her wand was still in her robe pocket and tried to push Jungeun off her.

“Let me go right this instant, Kim Jungeun.”

“Promise you won’t murder Hyunjin.”

“Ok, I’ll just break a few bones.”

“Jiwoo!”

Both girls continued fighting until Madam Pomfrey kicked them out of the infirmary for disturbing the patients; Jungeun managed to kiss Hyunjin’s forehead quickly before the nurse actually pushed them out of the room and into the hallway, closing the big doors on their faces.

“See what you’ve done?” Jiwoo said annoyed, shoving Jungeun’s shoulder before walking out. Jungeun followed her, mouth open in disbelief.

“Me? You were the psycho one!”

“Yeah, well, I would’ve gotten away with it too, if it hadn’t been for you, meddling kid.” Jiwoo kept her serious expression for a while until she realized Jungeun had no idea of what she just said.

“Meddling kid?”

“Forget it, muggle reference. Now let’s go, as far as I know, you and I are skipping classes for the rest of the day.”

“Damn right. Where do you want to go?” Jungeun asked, taking Jiwoo’s hand in her own and swinging them slightly.

“To a Hufflepuff’s favorite place. Let’s go.”

Jiwoo led the way, to where Jungeun didn’t know. But a blush covered her cheeks every time they would walk past other students while holding hands.

Their… _thing,_ that had started pretty much out of the blue, was supposed to be something casual, or so Jungeun thought; but they were spending a lot of time together, and not just to make out. Jiwoo helped Jungeun with her homework and listened to Jungeun when she talked about quidditch. Jungeun always bought Jiwoo sweets from her trips to Honeydukes and tried her best to understand her muggle jokes.

Maybe Jungeun should consider putting a title to their _thing._

//

 

 

Heejin woke up with a headache threatening to make her skull explode. She choked on thin air when she tried to take a breath, as her nose was clogged and winced when she breathed through her mouth and realized how sore her throat was. Heejin sat up on the bed and rubbed her eyes, feeling very disoriented. The first thing she noticed was the unfamiliar bed, then the Hufflepuff robe she knew all too well covering her legs; she looked around and realized she was in the infirmary, and the memories of the night before came flooding back to her. She groaned when she remembered all of it, regretting ever allowing Hyunjin to get close again in the first place.

 _Pff, close._ Heejin scoffed. Had they ever been truly close? She questioned if anything Hyunjin and her had was ever sincere. Deep down, Heejin knew she hadn’t been nice to Hyunjin either, but the girl’s harsh words had broken her heart and Heejin wanted nothing more than to erase her own memory.

The universe wasn’t on her side, clearly, because a soft snore came from a bed close to her own and Heejin found Hyunjin frowning, tossing around in the bed. Heejin looked at the ceiling in disbelief, surely there was some kind of almighty force laughing at her face right then. She took a deep breath, trying to convince herself that she would no longer pay any attention to the Slytherin.

Way easier said than done.

 

Heejin couldn’t tear her eyes away from Hyunjin. The usually loud girl who always stood up so tall looked so tiny in the bed, hugging a pillow to her chest and damn it Heejin wanted that crease between her eyebrows gone. Heejin hated knowing how she was the reason Hyunjin was in this state, and she wondered if Hyunjin would ever speak to her again after it all.

Her racing thoughts stopped abruptly, and Heejin felt a bit nauseous. She was supposed to be mad, furious even; so why was she worrying about Hyunjin so much? Had she not just said she would ignore the girl from now on? Why did she want to crawl under the covers with Hyunjin and hug her tight, run her fingers through her hair and let her know just how much-

 

“Madam Pomfrey? I think I have a fever…”

 

//

 

Hyunjin had what was probably her worst night in ages. She woke up because she couldn’t breathe properly, and she wondered if the wet pillowcase was because of her damp hair or from all the tears she had cried. Jinsol and Sooyoung were sleeping together on Sooyoung’s bed, and Hyunjin felt guilty knowing they were probably up til late looking after her. Hyunjin sat up on her bed for a while, hoping she had a window at least so she could stare at anything other than the musty green wall in front of her bed.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop thinking about Heejin. She had been mean, and Heejin was right, she was a coward. She started crying again, sobbing into her pillow because she had way too many feelings and she just didn’t know what to do with them. Heejin would never forgive her, that’s for sure. Hyunjin started coughing loudly, and soon she felt a soft hand patting her back.

Jinsol was staring at her with sleepy eyes, but attentive nonetheless. Hyunjin felt dizzy, too dizzy to keep her eyes open. She felt someone moving her around and then carrying her, but she lost track of what was going on around her.

Next thing she knew, she was in the infirmary. Alone, almost, if it wasn’t for the girl wincing at the big spoonful of fever medicine Madam Pomfrey was giving her. Hyunjin didn’t move, though, she stayed as still as possible as to not let Heejin know she was up. She closed her eyes, only leaving one slightly open to see the older girl.

After Heejin swallowed the remedy, she sat slouched on the bed, a blank stare on her face. Hyunjin decided to try and sleep some more; she didn’t have the energy to face Heejin right then- maybe she never would. Hyunjin was about to sleep when the sound of Heejin’s voice sounded through the room, surprising Hyunjin who didn’t expect Heejin to start talking.

“God, Hyunjin,” She whispered, and Hyunjin realized Heejin didn’t know she was awake and didn’t intend for her to actually hear whatever she was about to say. “I know you’re an ass and I shouldn’t be apologizing, but I’m still sorry. I should’ve left you alone, would’ve saved both of us a lot of heartbreak.” Hyunjin held her breath, hoping really hard that Heejin wasn’t looking her way because she was one second away from breaking into tears again. When Heejin remained quiet, Hyunjin risked opening her eyes and saw Heejin had laid down again, this time facing the wall.

Heejin wasn’t crying. She had run out of tears a while ago, but her mind wouldn’t stop racing even just for a few minutes so she could get some rest. She knew she should hate Hyunjin, but she couldn’t. The prospect of not caring about Hyunjin anymore seemed impossible, and all Heejin wanted was to stop thinking about what they used to be and she could have possibly done to make Hyunjin leave her. Why hadn’t she been enough?

 

Ok, maybe she was crying a little bit.

 

Hyunjin rubbed her eyes, tired of her whole face feeling puffy from all the crying. She couldn’t believe she was being so dramatic, it was very unlike her, but sometimes she couldn’t help certain things when it came to Heejin.

Heejin, the girl who always managed to tear her walls down, the girl who sometimes could read her like an open book even after so much time apart. The same Heejin she had been in love with ever since she can remember.

No matter how much she tried to bury her feelings down, no matter how much she nagged her to try and convince herself she didn’t actually like Heejin, she knew the truth. She loved Heejin.

Hyunjin loved Heejin, and now she would have to live with knowing the girl she loved the most despised her. Not that Hyunjin blamed her.

 

_Man, being heartbroken sucks._

 

//

 

 

Heejin woke up again when she felt her bed dipping and opened her puffy eyes trying to adjust to the bright lights. Yerim and Hyejoo were hovering over her with worried smiles, and Heejin looked between them confused.

“What are you guys doing here?” Her voice was hoarse, but her body didn’t ache when she sat up and she had to admit she felt better.

“Madam Pomfrey said you’re good to go, so we’re here to take you to your room,” Yerim explained happily.

“I can walk by myself, you know?” Heejin said with a small smile, thankful for her friends’ presence.

“We were just gonna visit because Jiwoo said you were here, but since you’re cleared now we will escort you.”

“Ma’am.” Hyejoo said with a fake deep voice, offering her arm to Heejin. Her mood was instantly lifted with her friends around, and she quickly put on the sweater Yerim had brought her. As they were leaving the infirmary, Heejin glanced towards Hyunjin one last time. She had decided to stop trying with the girl, and to start working on healing and getting over Hyunjin.

 

 With time, it would be possible, for sure, or so Heejin liked to think.

 

Heejin followed Hyejoo and Yerim down the hallways, feeling more light-hearted as she laughed with the girls, letting their hugs lessen her worries. The rain had stopped, and the grounds smelled nice as the three of them walked to the Hufflepuff common room. Hyejoo lent Heejin the notes for the classes she missed and they spent the afternoon huddled up in the warmth of Yerim’s room.

 

~

 

When Jinsol went to pick Hyunjin up, the girl was already standing up from the bed. Jinsol wrapped her in a tight hug and kissed her cheek sloppily, making Hyunjin wince.

“My baby! Are you feeling better?”

“Yes, Sol, much better,” Hyunjin mumbled, opting to spare Jinsol the burden of all the drama between her and Heejin. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

“Of course, kid, you know it’s not a problem,” Jinsol hugged her again, and Hyunjin allowed herself to put her defenses down and embrace the older girl, feeling all the love and affection the blonde had for her in a single hug. “You want to talk about what happened?”

Hyunjin shook her head, knowing her voice would betray her and tremble if she spoke up. Instead, she let herself be vulnerable in Jinsol’s arms, knowing there was no one better than the girl to understand her.

“Let’s go get you something to eat, Jungeun said she has cake in her room, even though I don’t know where she got it from.”

“Hmm, you know Jiwoo’s a Hufflepuff, no? And therefore a friend of the house elves?”

“Kim Jiwoo? What does she have to do with any of this?”

“Nothing, Sol, nothing. Let’s go, I’m starving.”

 

 

//

 

 

“Jiwooming, this has to be the best cake I’ve ever had,” Jungeun mumbled with her mouth full. Jiwoo giggled at how shiny the blonde’s eyes were.

“I didn’t think you’d be so excited about some cake, but I’m glad you like it, I’ll let the elves know you devoured it.” Jungeun nodded excitedly, reaching for another piece even if she hadn’t swallowed yet.

“Won’t I get in trouble for being here?” Jungeun asked, looking around Jiwoo’s room. It was probably the coziest place Jungeun had ever been in, and she was starting to feel sleepy from all she had eaten. The soft bed (that smelled of lemons, Jiwoo, and other nice things) seemed very inviting, almost insisting Jungeun to take a nap on it.

“Nah, Hyejoo hangs out with Yerim all the time. It’s not like anyone checks.” Jiwoo shrugged, wiping the crumbs from the corners of Jungeun’s mouth.

“Jiwoo…?”

“Yes, baby?”

“Can we cuddle?” Jungeun asked, blushing a bit both from her request and from Jiwoo calling her _baby_ ; she would never get used to it. Jiwoo chuckled and nodded, putting the rest of the cake away and moving the covers around. Jungeun hurried to lay with the girl and hugged her tightly making the brunette squirm.

Jungeun wasn’t sure what she liked the best: the warm room, the soft bed, or being in Jiwoo’s arms.

Jiwoo sighed and pressed her cheek against Jungeun’s forehead, running her hands up and down the blonde’s back.

 

Definitely Jiwoo’s arms.


	5. Just me, her and the moon.

In retrospective, maybe Hyunjin had been a little too dramatic.

 

After the whole episode in the infirmary, Hyunjin had started to feel better; not only did she manage to sleep without any problems, but quidditch practice was going great, and Hyunjin felt confident that the Slytherin team could win the cup once Christmas break was over.

It had been two weeks since the night at the quidditch pitch, and Hyunjin felt better even if her heart stung every once in a while when she caught a glimpse of Heejin smiling in the great hall or the sound of her giggles in their Herbology class.

But still, she was better.

 

Christmas was just around the corner, and Hyunjin sat on her bed as she watched Sooyoung pack. The older girl was leaving for home, excited at the prospect of eating homemade meals and spending time with her family. Sooyoung and Jinsol had gotten a bit sick that night too, but the blonde had recovered quickly and left the Slytherin suffering alone with a cough that never seemed to leave.

“I told you to go get checked.” Hyunjin rolled her eyes when Sooyoung started coughing again, but the other girl only shook her head as she cleared her throat.

“Mom will take care of it. You can still come with me, you know? There’s no need to stay here alone.” Sooyoung said as she closed her suitcase, walking over to Hyunjin’s bed and sitting down with her.

“Nah, it’s ok, I don’t want to intrude. Besides, the christmas feast is something else, it’s like the elves pity us poor losers staying in the castle and they make everything extra delicious.”

“Are you sure? Still haven’t changed your mind about going back home?”

“Hundred percent. It’s always just fighting at home and it’s exhausting, I’d rather stay here.” Hyunjin nodded and yelled when Sooyoung got her in a headlock, ruffling her hair.

“Promise me you won’t get in trouble.”

“Ah, let me go!” Hyunjin pushed Sooyoung away and tried to fix her hair. “There’s like, twenty other kids staying over. How much trouble could I possibly get into?”

 

~

 

“Jiwoo, it’s ok, I promise.”

“But you’re baby.” Heejin sighed as Jiwoo’s grip around her tightened, and no matter how much she squirmed and tried to wiggle her arms, Jiwoo wasn’t letting her go.

“Come on, you’re gonna break her.” Hyejoo laughed at Heejin’s pained expression and tried to tear Jiwoo away from the Gryffindor.

“She’s a big girl, she’ll be alright.” Yerim insisted, grabbing Jiwoo’s hand so Hyejoo could hug Heejin.

They were about to leave for the train station to spend Christmas at home, and Jiwoo was having a hard time leaving Heejin all by herself.

“Promise me you will call.”

“You know we don’t have phones here.” Heejin chuckled when Jiwoo’s pout only got worse, and she seemed to be on the verge of tears.

“Then write to me! I should just kidnap you and bring you with me as I had planned.” Jiwoo huffed, ever the dramatic one, and wiped invisible tears.

“I promise everything will be fine, Jiwooming. And I’m not completely alone, Haseul is gonna stay and my roommate isn’t leaving either. I’ll let you know if anything happens.”

“We’ll send you our gifts,” Hyejoo hugged Heejin again and it soon turned into a group hug. “We’ll miss you, Heekkie.”

“Don’t worry about me and enjoy your time at home, ok? I’ll be sure to drink water and all that. Now go before the carriages leave without you.”

Heejin waved at her friends from the grounds and did her best to put on a smile even if she knew she would feel very lonely. It was the first time she wouldn’t spend Christmas at home, but her dad was sick and had been in the hospital for a while, and her mom would spend the holiday there with him. Honestly, Heejin would rather spend Christmas in the comfort of the Gryffindor tower rather than in the cold rooms at St. Mungos.

 

//

 

Time seems to go by slower when you’re on your own.

Heejin had run out of ways to spend her time; she had been playing magic chess with Chaeyoung until she got tired of winning and left to be with her friends, which left Heejin all by herself. She tried reading a book, but grew bored; drew for a bit until she ran out of inspiration; tried to teach herself how to knit and even considered working on her magic history homework. So, she took a nap, because she still had three hours to kill until the Christmas Eve dinner and she was sure she would die of boredom.

 

Getting ready for dinner was a good distraction; Jiwoo had lent Heejin her best pair of jeans, and Heejin spent a good fifteen minutes deciding on which sweater to wear. She settled for a fluffy white one Yerim had gifted her last christmas and once Heejin deemed she looked good enough, she headed to the great hall.

When she walked in, Heejin was so distracted by all the delicious looking food on the table, she sat where professor Trelawney told her to without realizing who was sitting next to her.

Hyunjin closed her eyes and cursed in her head because of course, Heejin would sit there, out of all the empty places. She glared at the teacher who was acting as innocent as possible, but Hyunjin didn’t miss her little smirk. Still, she kept her attention on the plate in front of her, not even sparing a single glance at the Gryffindor.

The air between them was tense, but no one seemed to notice, too engrossed in their little chit-chat as they waited for the rest of the students.

Heejin, however, did look at Hyunjin and felt her stomach flutter at the girl’s attire. Heejin scolded herself for thinking Hyunjin looked good, after all, it was a simple flannel, jeans, and boots. _Is that the only thing she wears?_

The feast began and Heejin was thankful for the distraction that came in the form of a giant turkey. She munched happily, conversing a little with Chaeyoung who was sitting in front of her. Haseul was a few seats away, too busy with her pie to give Heejin any attention.

Hyunjin, on the other hand, was feeling miserable because in front of her there was a first year whom she didn’t know and next to her, some greasy guy that chewed too loudly and kept spilling sauce everywhere.

Luckily the professors didn’t insist on talking too much after they were done eating, and they dismissed the students shortly after. They even got their curfews extended, which meant they could wander around the castle for a bit before going to bed.

Hyunjin decided to take a walk; she needed to clear her mind a little bit because being so close to Heejin after successfully avoiding her for two weeks made her feel upset. Soon she found herself walking up the stairs of the astronomy tower, seeking solace.

 

The night was chilly but the skies were clear, the full moon shining brightly illuminated the tower enough for Hyunjin to see where she was stepping. As she rested her arms against the railing of the small balcony, she wondered what her friends were doing, if they missed her, if they were thinking about her. Hyunjin huffed and a small cloud of warm air left her mouth; her nose felt frozen and chills ran through her body, but Hyunjin enjoyed the wind nonetheless and refused to go inside yet. She became alert when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs; she thought she would be the only one in the tower, but apparently, someone had had the same idea. Hyunjin hoped it was one of the younger kids so she could scare them off and continue enjoying her solitude, however, it was Heejin who walked in.

Heejin seemed unfazed even after noticing Hyunjin standing there, and she kept walking until she was a few steps away from Hyunjin. Heejin leaned against the railing the same way Hyunjin was doing and stared off into the night sky, sighing every now and then.

Hyunjin copied her actions and stared at the moon, silently asking for help because her heart was beating loudly and Hyunjin feared Heejin might hear it in the silence of the night. When Hyunjin looked at Heejin, their eyes met but, for the first time in years, neither of them looked away. Instead, they held each other’s gaze, and Heejin took a deep breath before she began speaking.

 

//

 

“Yerim! Come here, you have to see this!”

“Shh, you’re too loud, did you get the chocolate frogs or not?”

Hyejoo grabbed Yerim’s waist and dragged her down the train corridor, dodging students and the trolley lady.

“Hey, she has pumpkin pies-”

“Yerim, shut up for five minutes and come with me.”

Hyejoo stopped both of them in front of a booth and motioned for Yerim to look inside. Yerim’s eyes widened and Hyejoo had to cover her mouth to muffle the squeaks the Hufflepuff was making. Yerim looked at Hyejoo frenetically and the Slytherin only managed to nod before both of them turned their gazes to the booth again.

In the very back of the train, in the last booth that no one ever used as it was rumored to be haunted, Jungeun was propped up against the window with a very much asleep Jiwoo sitting on her lap. She had her face hidden on Jungeun’s neck, partially covered by the girl’s blonde hair, but her awful reindeer sweater gave her away. Jungeun was also asleep, with her head resting against the back of the seat in the most uncomfortable position possible.

Hyejoo felt Yerim’s mouth moving under her hand and blushed, clearing her throat slightly before looking at the Hufflepuff again.

“You won’t scream if I remove my hand?” Yerim shook her head and Hyejoo uncovered her mouth, wiping it against her pants shyly.

“I would say I can’t believe this but looking back, I can’t believe we didn’t notice before.”

“Oh my god,” Hyejoo said, mouth agape, and she quickly turned around and started walking back to their booth. “Does that mean that bruise on Jiwoo’s neck the other day wasn’t because of a spell that went wrong?”

“I can’t believe we bought that!” Yerim facepalmed and groaned when she started to realize how many times Jiwoo had lied to them and they had believed her.

“I can’t believe she’s dating _Jungeun,_ out of all people. When Heejin finds out she’s gonna be so pissed.”

“Oh no, we’re keeping our mouths shut, Yerimmie,” Hyejoo closed the booth door and plopped down on the seat, taking Yerim’s hand so she’d sit down next to her. “If Jiwoo hasn’t told us, she must have a reason, and we have to respect it.”

“But we can’t keep this from Heejin.”

“We have to. Really, it’s Jiwoo we’re talking about, I’m surprised she managed to keep this a secret for so long. Promise me you won’t say anything.” Yerim sighed and reached up to cup Hyejoo’s face, stroking her cheek with her thumb. Hyejoo blushed and gulped, suddenly feeling very nervous.

“Only if you go buy me a chocolate frog.” Hyejoo chuckled nervously and stood up quickly, leaving the booth awkwardly and hitting her shoulder with the door on her way out. Yerim sighed and rested her head against the window, _it’s really not fair for me to be mad with Jiwoo when I’m keeping things from her too, no?_

 

~

Jiwoo walked into Hyejoo and Yerim’s booth right as the train arrived at the London station to retrieve her luggage. She had a whole excuse prepared and staged up for when her friends asked about her whereabouts, but neither of them mentioned anything. Jiwoo found it odd, but she wasn’t about to mention it herself.

“I was hanging out with Yujin and Wonyoung, haven’t been able to talk to them much lately.” _Damn it Jiwoo, how hard can it be to keep your mouth shut?_

“Oh? And how are they?” Hyejoo asked sparing a glance to her older friend, most of her attention on the card game she and Yerim were playing.

“Fine, fine, you know, enjoying their life at the castle and all,” Jiwoo nodded awkwardly, cringing at herself. “Anyway, I should get going now, don’t want to keep my mom waiting. Come give me a hug.” Jiwoo stretched her arms and both girls stood up to hug Jiwoo, groaning when the girl lifted them off the floor.

“You’re surprisingly strong.”

“It’s the power of love.” Jiwoo ruffled their hair and gave each of them a kiss on the cheek before rushing down the corridor, not before blowing more kisses to her friends.

“She does know Yujin and Wonyoung stayed at Hogwarts, right?”

 

//

 

“I think we should talk…” Heejin said quietly, stepping closer to Hyunjin.

“I don’t think we should,” Hyunjin said but she didn’t move from her spot and instead let Heejin get closer.

“We need to. That night at the quidditch pitch, I- I shouldn’t have treated you like that.”

“Heejin, you’re crazy. If anyone should be apologizing that’s me, I said some horrible things to you-”

“I wasn’t very nice to you, either.” Hyunjin sighed; she knew both of them would keep putting the blame on themselves, and it was going to take them nowhere. Hyunjin turned her body towards the sky again, this time with Heejin standing right beside her.

“What are you doing here, Jeon?”

“Professor Trelawney told me to come here. She didn’t tell me why, but I figured maybe I should listen to her since she teaches divination and all.”

“Yeah, the last thing I’d do is listen to that woman.” Hyunjin chuckled, shaking her head in disbelief at the meddling teacher.

“But she was right, I guess since you’re here. I feel really guilty, Hyunjin, I think it’s time we sort this out. We’re not children anymore.”

“Are we not?” Hyunjin asked, finally looking at Heejin. The moonlight was making her eyes glisten as Heejin kept her stare fixed on Hyunjin, and the Slytherin had to look away, feeling overwhelmed.

“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be, Kim. I’m not saying we should be friends or anything, just… be civil, you know? Stop avoiding each other, it’s the only way we’ll be able to move on.”

Hyunjin seemed to consider it, but she still wouldn’t look at the Gryffindor. _What if I don’t want to move on?_ Hyunjin flinched when she felt Heejin’s hand on top of her own. Heejin was standing so close to her, Hyunjin couldn’t help but lower her gaze to Heejin’s lips. She must have stared for too long because Heejin squeezed her hand waiting for an answer. “Please?”

“Yeah, okay,” Hyunjin whispered, suddenly feeling her face heating up. Heejin was so, so close to her face, and her hand moved to hold Hyunjin’s wrist. Hyunjin was almost in a trance, eyes flickering between Heejin’s eyes and lips; she was about to screw it all up and lean in, the urge to press her lips against Heejin’s taking over her, and for a second she thought Heejin would do the same, but then the older girl stepped away and dropped Hyunjin’s wrist.

Heejin blinked a few times and put some distance between them, clearing her throat and smiling softly at the Slytherin.

“Thank you. Um, it’s getting late so I should go now. I’ll see you around.” Heejin turned around and started to walk towards the stairs, albeit slowly. Maybe if it wasn’t for the wind that started to blow strongly drowning Hyunjin’s voice, Heejin would’ve heard her.

 

“I like you, Heekkie…”

 

 

//

 

“Jiwoo, sweety, there’s a girl looking for you,” Jiwoo’s mom knocked on her daughter’s bedroom door, and Jiwoo stood from her desk chair curiously, wondering who could it be. “Were you expecting someone?”

“Not really…” Jiwoo walked downstairs, and she smiled widely when she saw Jungeun standing at her door; Jiwoo practically jumped onto Jungeun’s arms, hugging her tightly.

“I didn’t think you’d actually show up.”

“Are you kidding? We live like ten blocks away, I wasn’t going to miss the chance to visit you. Besides, I brought you something.” Jungeun smiled smugly, lifting the gift bag on her hand and wiggling her eyebrows.

“Silly, you didn’t need to. Besides, christmas was like two days ago.” Jiwoo said coyly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Well, I didn’t get to see you two days ago.” Jungeun was holding Jiwoo’s waist, looking lovingly at the girl and enjoying the pink hue covering her cheeks.

“Jiwoo, invite your friend in, don’t just leave her standing there.” Jiwoo and Jungeun let go of each other abruptly when they heard Jiwoo’s mom speak behind them, and Jungeun bowed respectfully, gulping nervously.

“Sorry for showing up unannounced, Miss Kim.”

“It’s no problem, dear, but come inside before you freeze.” Jiwoo closed the door behind Jungeun and grabbed her hand, dragging her towards the stairs.

“We’ll be in my room, mom!” Jiwoo shouted not daring to look at her mother; she didn’t need to see her to know the woman was smiling knowingly, and she dreaded the talk they would surely have once Jungeun was gone. When they were inside the girl’s room, Jiwoo closed the door and leaned against it, chuckling.

“Hey, you,” Jungeun said as she walked closer to Jiwoo, trapping her against the door. Jungeun cupped Jiwoo’s face and kissed her softly. She intended for it to be a short kiss, but Jiwoo grabbed the back of her head and kissed her deeper, making Jungeun feel weak on the knees and sigh into the kiss.

“Hey,” Jiwoo said a bit breathlessly, smiling against Jungeun’s lips. “I missed you.”

“We saw each other like a week ago.”

“And? I still missed you.”

“Fair, I missed you, too.” Jungeun pulled apart to take her padded coat off and draped on the chair, looking around the room curiously.

“What do you think?” Jiwoo asked, suddenly feeling very self-conscious about all the stuffed animals on her bed.

“I like it, it’s very you.”

“Well, thanks,” Jiwoo bit her lip and sat down on the bed, patting the space beside her. Jungeun sat down and gave Jiwoo the bag she had brought; the Gryffindor grabbed it excitedly and kissed Jungeun’s cheek before opening it. The bag had all kind of muggle sweets and a small velvet box which Jiwoo pulled out nervously.

“Are you asking me to marry you?” Jiwoo joked and Jungeun shook her head, blushing.

“No, dummy, just open it.”

Inside, there was a bracelet with a little owl charm. It had two red stones as the eyes, and Jiwoo glanced up to find Jungeun smiling shyly.

“I know it’s not much but I thought it was nice… you told me once that owls remind you of me and since red is Gryffindor’s color and all… I don’t know, I thought you’d like it.”

Jiwoo bit her lip again before leaning in and kissing Jungeun sweetly.

“It’s perfect.”


	6. Friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise double update! merry christmas (eve) everyone :D

As the freezing January wind threatened to make her scarf fly off, Heejin regretted ever letting Jiwoo drag her to a quidditch match. Her fingers felt numb and she was pretty sure her eyelashes were starting to freeze. However, the cold didn’t seem to bother Jiwoo who was jumping up and down in the stands and yelling every chant she knew.

The game was Slytherin vs Gryffindor, which had everyone in the school buzzing with excitement and making bets on who would advance to the finals. For the first time in years, Hufflepuff had snatched the first spot in a quidditch final, and needless to say the Hufflepuff common room had had a week-long party.

The Gryffindor team scored, and Jiwoo yelled _very_ loudly, _very_ close to Heejin’s ear. Heejin didn’t understand the excitement, especially since it wasn’t even Jiwoo’s house.

“And the game is tied! Thanks to Gryffindor’s star chaser Kim Jungeun, truly a gifted one, don’t you think so, Chaewon?”

“Ah yes, Yeojin, this is the eleventh quaffle Kim has gotten through the hoops this afternoon, and the fortieth of the season!” More yells came from the stands when Jungeun did a flip on her broom, effectively snatching the quaffle from a Slytherin chaser.

“Seems like Jungeunnie here has got a bunch of fangirls.” Yeojin teased, making everyone watching laugh and feeding Jungeun’s ego.

“No one can deny that, Yeojin, maybe we should interview her after the match, ask if there is anyone special in her heart-”

“Just comment on the game!” Jiwoo shouted angrily, face almost as red as the scarf around her neck. Heejin, who was utterly terrified of an angry Jiwoo, stepped to the side slightly, looking for a route to escape in case the monster inside Jiwoo was unleashed. More screams turned Heejin’s attention to the game again, and she saw Hyunjin rushing towards the snitch. Well, Heejin guessed it was the snitch, it’s not like she could see much from the stands, especially when Jiwoo had hogged the binoculars.

Yuri, the Gryffindor seeker, was trailing just behind Hyunjin with great speed, and the crowd roared when both girls were neck to neck. While they both flew under the stands following the snitch, Jungeun scored another ten points; and stuck her tongue out at Sooyoung, who was already planning on beating Jungeun’s ass later.

“What a keeper you are!” Jungeun teased, flying around the Slytherin.

“Yeah, you should ask your mother!”

“That makes no sense!” Jungeun chuckled and flew away before Sooyoung could say anything else. Hyunjin and Yuri appeared again but it seemed they had lost the snitch since Yuri stayed near the ground and Hyunjin went towards her team’s rings. Jiwoo screeched when a bludger almost hit Jungeun right in the chest; Chaeyoung had hit it right on time and sent it to Mina instead, who was too distracted to avoid it. She didn’t fall from the broom, but it made her drop the quaffle, which Hayoung quickly grabbed before starting a series of quick passes with her teammates.

“The teamwork the Gryffindor team has is unprecedented, all seven girls work perfectly together.”

“I think you are a bit biased, Yeojin, but yes, I’ll have to admit they are pretty great.”

“You’re just upset Ravenclaw _flopped_.”

“Excuse me?”

The two commentators kept bickering with each other, and Heejin just wanted the game to end already. She wondered if Hyunjin felt cold, because she sure as hell did, but the Slytherin seemed unbothered, riding her broom with practiced ease. Suddenly, Heejin caught a glimpse of something shining a few meters behind Hyunjin’s head.

She’s not sure how, but she managed to catch Hyunjin’s gaze and gestured towards the glimmer. Hyunjin understood her and quickly whipped her head around, and in less than five seconds, she had the snitch in her hand.

The crowd went crazy, with everyone yelling either happily o angrily (Heejin is sure Jiwoo destroyed her eardrums when she started cursing), but Heejin just sighed in relief because now she could finally leave.

 

~

 

Heejin was _still_ at the quidditch pitch, at least thirty minutes after the match had ended. She was leaning against a wall outside of the changing rooms, thinking about the warmth of the fireplaces at the Gryffindor tower. Jiwoo had dragged her down the stands and told her to wait there for a minute before going inside the Gryffindor locker room.  _A minute, yeah, right._ Heejin scoffed, watching the sun already beginning to set.

She heard a door opening, followed by steps, so Heejin stood straight ready to smack Jiwoo’s head and go back to the castle.

“What took you so fucking long? And why did you go in there in the first place?”

“Uh, I needed to change out of my uniform? And I was celebrating with the team?” Hyunjin replied with an airy laugh, and Heejin rolled her eyes.

“I thought you were Jiwoo.” Heejin crossed her arms and looked out at the horizon, acting disinterested. Things with Hyunjin were good but still awkward. They waved at each other in the halls and stopped trying to make each other trip, but that was it. Ever since the night at the tower, they hadn’t talked again, much less been alone, just the two of them.

“I can’t believe you betrayed your own house like that, princess.” _That stupid nickname._

“I can’t, either. But the game was taking forever and I wanted to go back to my room.”

“Seems like things didn’t go your way, if you’re still here,” Hyunjin chuckled and got into Heejin’s line of vision. “What’d you think of the game?”

Heejin blushed slightly; Hyunjin had her cheeks flushed and her hair was a mess, but Hyunjin ran her hand through her locks and she looked so _tall-_

“Boring. Chaeyoung, Hayoung, and Jungeun were great, though. Shame I can’t say the same about the Slytherin chasers.”

“Pff, what do you even know about quidditch? I’ll have you know Mina and Eunbi do their absolute best.”

“And Jinyoung?”

“No, yeah, he sucks ass.” Heejin giggled; talking with Hyunjin like that… it felt natural. “But really, thank you.”

“Don’t even mention it. And please, don’t tell anyone… Jiwoo will literally hex me if she knows I’m responsible for Gryffindor losing.” Hyunjin chuckled and shook her head, messing her hair again and making Heejin lose her attention for a second.

“I wasn’t planning to. I am a hero to my teammates, I’m not gonna tell them a Gryffindor helped me, that’s so shameful.” Heejin fake-gasped and punched Hyunjin’s shoulder softly, making the younger girl whine dramatically. “Ah, now you want to injure me! I see how it is.”

“Shut up, Kim…”

“Why does Jiwoo care so much about Gryffindor anyway? I didn’t even know she liked quidditch.”

“She doesn’t,” Heejin said holding her laugh, looking at the two girls that had left the Gryffindor locker room and pointing at them. “It’s something- or someone else she likes.”

Hyunjin opened her mouth when she saw Jungeun walking hand in hand with Jiwoo and shook her head amusedly.

“God, they’re so obvious.”

“I know, right? But I don’t have the heart to tell her I already know.”

When Jiwoo and Jungeun saw the other girls standing there, they let go of each other’s hands.

“Heejin, I’m ready to go.”

“Took you long enough.” Jiwoo glared at Heejin and smiled politely at Hyunjin; she grabbed her friend’s hand to drag her towards the castle, but Heejin pulled her right back.

“Don’t be rude, Jiwooming, Hyunjin and I here were just talking about your sudden interest in quidditch.” Heejin decided to tease the Hufflepuff, and by the evil grin on Hyunjin’s face and the arm around Jungeun’s shoulder holding her in place, she knew Hyunjin was game as well.

“Ah, Heejin, what are you talking about? I’ve loved quidditch since forever!”

“Hmm, is that why you thought teams got points every time a beater hit a bludger?”

“That was only a suggestion, silly.” Jiwoo chuckled awkwardly and stared at her feet, knowing Jungeun would be mad with her later for thinking such thing about her precious sport.

“Hey, Jungie, did you give that interview Yeojin and Chaewon were talking about? I sure am _dying_ to know if you have a special someone. And the girls at the castle must be curious too, no? Especially that second year who asked for your autograph.” Hyunjin commented casually, acting so well Heejin had to hold a loud laugh by puffing her cheeks.

“A second year that what?” Jiwoo asked, tilting her head and staring at Jungeun, who was laughing fakely as she tried to stomp on Hyunjin’s feet.

“I have no idea what she’s talking about, Jiwoo. And no, I didn’t give any interviews.” Jungeun muttered the last part through gritted teeth. Hyunjin’s grin turned into a pained expression and Heejin was worried until she noticed Jungeun not so subtly pulling at the Slytherin’s hair.

“Alright, time to go, congrats on the win, Hyunjin,” Jiwoo smiled again, but Heejin knew Jiwoo only half-meant it. “Jungeun.”

This time Heejin let herself be dragged, but not before stealing a glance towards Hyunjin who winked at her before yelping in pain when Jungeun trapped her in a headlock.

 

“What was that about, you little shit?” Jungeun groaned as Hyunjin tried to bite her arm.

“Well, it’s not my fault you and Jiwoo were busy making out in the locker room! You gave me the opportunity to tease on a silver plate, man.”

“I suggest you sleep with an eye open tonight, Kim.”

“You couldn’t even scare a newborn baby, Kim. Now let me go before I tell Jiwoo about that second year and the love-potion cookies.” Jungeun immediately dropped Hyunjin and lifted her hands up in surrender, taking a step back.

“You win this round. And I wasn’t making out with her, ok? We were just talking.”

“Sure, whatever you say.” Hyunjin chuckled and hugged Jungeun sideways, heading towards the castle.

“Well, I wouldn’t act so cocky if I were you. You and Heejin sure seemed like good gals out here.”

“Oh, yeah, the best of pals, Jungie.” Hyunjin sighed and Jungeun shoved her as they walked.

“Come on, what’s going on? You can tell me.” Jungeun smiled sincerely at her friend, knowing Hyunjin needed a little push to disclose.

“Can we grab dinner first? Beating your ass makes me hungry.” Hyunjin smirked, knowing she had changed the subject successfully when Jungeun took a deep breath, ready to berate her.

 

//

 

“I hate you so much, Jeon.”

“No, you don’t.” Heejin giggled, more than amused at how flustered Jiwoo looked. The Hufflepuff had pushed Heejin inside the barrels that lead to her common room and practically kicked her all the way to her room, where she was currently pacing back and forth.

“I do! I can’t believe you would put me in such a situation.”

“Jiwooming, chill, absolutely nothing happened.”

“How did you even find out!?”

“How dumb do you think I am?” Heejin stared at Jiwoo in disbelief. “You two have to be the most obvious people I’ve ever met. Did you really think Jungeun standing up from the Slytherin table during breakfast and loudly announcing she _‘was going to the grounds for some fresh air’_ and you _‘going back to your room for a book you forgot’_ exactly thirty seconds after she left is being discreet?”

Jiwoo plopped down on her bed and screamed into her pillow, making Heejin laugh out loud.

“I like her so much, Heekkie! God, you have no idea…” Heejin laid down with Jiwoo, pulling the pillow from her face. Jiwoo was pouting and her eyes were teary; Heejin cooed at her friend and hugged her, letting Jiwoo sob dramatically on her chest. “We’ve been seeing each other for a few months now, almost since the school year started.”

“And that’s bad because…?”

“I want to be her _girlfriend._ Hiding and all was fun at first, especially when you and Hyunjin hated each other because we thought you would get mad. But now I just want to hold her hand in the halls, go on dates at Hogsmeade and kiss her in front of everyone so those stinky second years know she _does_ have a special someone! I want Yeojin commenting on how loudly Jungeun’s girlfriend cheers for her!”

Heejin, ever the hopeless romantic, couldn’t help but squirm alongside her friend. “You should tell her all that, Jiwoo! She probably wants that as well.”

“She visited me during christmas break with a gift for me,” Jiwoo sniffed, sitting up on the bed and showing Heejin her wrist, the shiny bracelet wrapped around it. “It was straight out of a romantic movie, Heekkie!”

“I wouldn’t call it straight, but…”

“My mom was there so we ran to my room, but then she was like _oh Jiwoo invite your friend to dinner_ and I had to sit there watching as my mom interrogated Jungeun. And when Jungie left, my mom kept teasing me even though I said a million times that she’s a friend and that’s what hurt the most! That she’s just a friend!”

“Uh,” Heejin pulled the neck of Jiwoo’s shirt down slightly, revealing a faint pink mark there. “I wouldn’t say you two are just friends.”

“You pervert! We’ve never-”

“Hey, I’m not implying that. But- if Jungeun sat down through your mom questioning her, maybe she doesn’t consider you just a _special_ friend either.” Jiwoo sniffed again and nibbled on her lip nervously.

“I guess you have a point…”

“Come on, silly, next time you see her just tell her how you feel.” Heejin assured Jiwoo, hugging her and making both of them fall on the bed again.

“Thank you, dummy. Aren’t you mad, though?”

“Why would I be mad? You can date however you want.”

“But she’s Hyunjin’s best friend,” Jiwoo said worriedly.

“Ha, funny you mention her…” Jiwoo looked at Heejin and rolled her eyes.

“Spill it.”

“I think I might, maybe, possibly have a teeny, tiny, very little crush on her?”

“Congratulations on finding out, you’re literally the last person on earth to know about it.”

“Hey!” Heejin shoved Jiwoo who was giggling behind her hand and rolling around the bed. “You’re one to talk! Miss ‘I lie to my friends about a spell going wrong so they don’t ask about my hickeys’”

“Unrelated. Now, tell me everything!” Jiwoo squealed excitedly, clapping her hands and kicking at the air. “Ah, I love girl’s talk.”

Heejin was about to tell Jiwoo pretty much everything that had happened when the door opened and a gloomy Yerim walked in dragging her feet through the carpet.

“Yerimmie?” Jiwoo asked worriedly when Yerim fell face first on the mattress and didn’t move.

“I hate everything.”

“Okay?” Heejin said dragging the ‘O’, looking at Jiwoo hoping the older girl would tell her what to do. When Yerim started sobbing into the covers, both girls pulled her up and passed her a box of tissues.

“Baby what happened?” Jiwoo said stroking the younger girl’s hair.

“I don’t want to talk. Can’t I just… be here for a while?”

“Yeah, sure, come here.” Both Hufflepuff girls hugged and Heejin felt a little out of place, not really being good at comforting people.

“I’ll go get you some water, ok Yerimmie?” Yerim nodded from her place nuzzled on Jiwoo’s arms, and Heejin left the room hurriedly. Heejin’s confusion only grew when she saw Hyejoo crouched down tapping the barrels nervously, cursing under her breath when they wouldn’t open.

“Hye? Are you ok?” Heejin asked before making the entrance open for the young Slytherin.

“Never been better! I gotta run, see you later!” Hyejoo dashed out of the common room and Heejin could only stare as she ran down the hallway, almost crashing with a third-year Hufflepuff.

 

~

 

“Are you sure you don’t mind missing the game, Ollie?” Yerim asked as she dropped her bag on the floor and kept the door opened for Hyejoo.

“Of course not, you need help with this project, and besides I don’t even like quidditch that much.” Hyejoo shrugged and smiled at Yerim sweetly.

“I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

Hyejoo spent the next few hours trying to explain to Yerim how boggarts worked, and then helped her write her essay once Yerim more or less grabbed the concept. It was already dark when they were done, and Yerim huffed dramatically before she jumped onto her bed.

“How am I supposed to graduate like this! It’s impossible.”

“You’re just lazy.” Hyejoo smiled coyly and sat down next to Yerim, letting herself be pulled down when the Hufflepuff held her hand and pulled her towards herself.

“Maybe I am,” Yerim sighed contently, wrapping her arms around Hyejoo’s waist and spooning her. “I don’t know about you, but I think we deserve a nap.”

Hyejoo berated herself when she felt her heart beating loudly inside her chest. Cuddling with Yerim was nothing out of the ordinary, yet lately, she couldn’t help but feel really shy about it. There was no way to deny her growing feelings for the Hufflepuff, and Hyejoo felt guilty about liking her best friend. Despite her initial shyness, the Slytherin still allowed herself to enjoy the familiarity of being in Yerim’s arms, and the warmth of her embrace was making her sleepy already.

“Ollie?” Yerim spoke softly.

“Hmm?”

“Have you ever liked someone?”

Hyejoo gulped and felt every ounce of peace she had in her body leaving her abruptly. Could Yerim read minds?

“W-why do you ask?” Hyejoo asked nervously, dreading the girl’s answer.

“I think- I think I have a crush…”

“Oh…” Hyejoo felt her throat dry, and while a part of her wanted to be hopeful, she feared having misread everything. “On who?”

Yerim made her turn around and stared deeply into Hyejoo’s eyes; her breath was hitting Hyejoo’s lips since their faces were so close, and Hyejoo couldn’t help but tighten her grip on Yerim’s arms. Everything seemed to stand still when Yerim leaned in and brushed her nose against Hyejoo’s; time stopped and nothing mattered other that Yerim’s flushed cheeks.

It was Hyejoo who broke the distance and kissed Yerim. Her lips were shut tightly, almost afraid; Yerim cupped Hyejoo’s jaw and ran her thumb near Hyejoo’s ear, which made the Slytherin sigh. Yerim took the chance to slot their lips together correctly, letting them slide against each other as she kept stroking Hyejoo’s face. Yerim pulled apart and kissed Hyejoo again, and again until the other girl stopped being so hesitant and moved her hands from Yerim’s arm to the back of her head.

Right when Yerim parted her lips, Hyejoo pulled away from her and stood up quickly. Hyejoo had never been so red, every inch from her neck to the tip of her ears felt on fire and she was sure her heart was trying to break free from her chest.

“I- I’m sorry, Yerm. I’m sorry.”


	7. Steps.

“Heejin? What are you doing here?” Hyunjin asked when she ran into Heejin at the quidditch pitch before the final game. Hyunjin was already wearing her team uniform and the colorful lanterns decorating the pitch made Heejin look even more beautiful as she walked towards Hyunjin wearing her school uniform. Hyunjin could swear she heard soft music playing somewhere in the distance.

“I came here to get you, Hyunjinnie. It’s been _way_ too long, don’t you think?” Heejin said lowly, making Hyunjin shiver as she approached her.

“It has…” Hyunjin dropped her broom and started to walk towards Heejin, and once they were together Hyunjin held Heejin closely by the waist as Heejin wrapped her arms around Hyunjin’s neck. They rested their foreheads together and stared into each other’s eyes. “I missed you, Heekkie.”

“I missed you too,” Hyunjin could feel Heejin’s breath against her lips and was starting to feel light headed. “Don’t leave me again…”

“I won’t, I promise you, princess,” Hyunjin stared at Heejin’s parted lips, desperate to kiss Heejin and somehow let her know all the things she had been wanting to say for more than a year. “I love you.” She felt Heejin leaning in, so Hyunjin puckered her lips and leaned in as well.

Then a hand on her forehead stopped her.

“What the fuck are you doing, Kim?” Hyunjin opened her eyes abruptly when she recognized Jungeun’s teasing voice. The blonde, who was laying next to her, was staring at her with her cheeks puffed, trying and failing to contain her laugh. “I know I’m irresistible but please, I have a girl.”

Hyunjin slapped Jungeun’s hand away from her forehead and groaned when she realized she still had her lips puckered.

“Fuck off, I hate you so much.” Hyunjin wanted to _cry,_ feeling terrible after her dream.

“What, did I interrupt something important?” Jungeun teased. Hyunjin grabbed her pillow and started beating Jungeun with it, straddling the Gryffindor with the intention of suffocating her.

“Girls, please, no killing in this room,” Jinsol mumbled still half asleep from Sooyoung’s bed, where she was using the girl’s arm as a pillow. Sooyoung had a mask covering her eyes, unaware of the attempted murder.

“Next sleepover we’re switching places, you hear me? I can’t have Hyunjin falling in love with me.”

“I hate you, you fucking dick.” Hyunjin dropped down next to Jungeun, burying her head on her pillow and screaming.

“Aww, come on, what happened?” Jungeun laid down with Hyunjin, poking at her shoulder. “Jinsol and Sooyoung are in another existential plane, I assure you. You can tell me what’s up.” Hyunjin turned around to lay on her back and looked at Jungeun with teary eyes, pouting like a kicked puppy.

“I like her so much, Jungie… I feel like I keep screwing things up and no matter what I do I can’t get her back.”

“Well, it’s not like you’ve been trying to, either. Annoying your crush as a way of flirting can only work for so long, Hyun…”

“But every time I talk to her I end up making a fool of myself.”

“Oh, sweetie, you breathe and you make a fool- hey, I was kidding!” Jungeun laughed when Hyunjin started to hit her again and grabbed her wrists to stop her. “Just talk to her, compliment her sincerely, ask her out, I don’t know. Valentine’s day is coming up, why don’t you invite her to that romantic café in hogsmeade?”

“Are you crazy? So she can turn me down and laugh at my face? No, thanks.”

“Come on, Heejin would never do that and you know it.” Jungeun rolled her eyes amusedly, shoving Hyunjin.

“How do you even know I’m talking about Heejin?”

“I may be an idiot, but I’m not stupid,” Jungeun assured, and this time it was Hyunjin’s turn to roll her eyes. “I’ll give you thirty chocolate frogs if you ask her out.”

“And I’ll give you fifty if you stop being a coward and ask Jiwoo to be your girlfriend,” Hyunjin smirked when her plan to shut Jungeun up worked. The blonde opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, lifting her finger in the air as if she were about to argue something, but she ended up dropping her hand in defeat and covering her face with the duvet. “That’s what I thought…”

 

 

//

 

 

Heejin stared at her reflection in the bowl of soup sitting in front of her, too scared to lift her gaze. She tried to make herself as small as possible, but her shoulders were already covering her ears and it seemed like no matter how hard she wished for it, the earth wasn’t going to swallow her. On her right, Yerim was bouncing her leg quickly and tapping her fingers against the table; on her left, Hyejoo had been chewing the same piece of chicken for at least five minutes and she seemed to share Heejin’s desire to be gone as soon as possible.

On any normal day, Heejin sat next to Jiwoo while Yerim and Hyejoo sat in front of them holding hands under the table (Heejin pretended not to notice, but she never really questioned her friends’ habits too much). But now Jiwoo hadn’t shown up at the great hall, and neither had Chaewon, or Haseul, or anyone who would give Heejin an excuse to stop holding her breath, afraid of doing or saying something that would trigger her friends.

Yerim still hadn’t told them what had happened even after almost two weeks, and Heejin could only guess it had something to do with Hyejoo, but she couldn’t ask the other girl either and didn’t want to meddle too much. It felt too weird, not seeing them all over each other. Heejin was seriously considering sliding down her seat to hide under the table when someone tapped her shoulder.

“Hey, Jeon, mind coming with me for a minute?” Hyunjin smiled awkwardly, and when Heejin gave her a puzzled look, Hyunjin opened her eyes wide and motioned with her head at the two girls who were trying extremely hard to not look at each other. Heejin then nodded in understanding and stood up trying to act as casual as possible.

“Yes, Kim, of course.”

Heejin felt _terrible_ for ignoring Hyejoo’s pleading eyes when she left her seat, but she couldn’t stand it anymore. She shrugged apologetically and guided Hyunjin out of the great hall, trying really hard to not look back because she could feel Hyejoo staring at the back of her head and Heejin knew she would return in a second if she saw Hyejoo’s puppy eyes again.

“Thanks for saving me,” Heejin said once they were hiding behind one of the columns outside the great hall.

“No problem, princess, I could feel the tension all the way from the Slytherin table and your shoulders were so high up I’m sure you broke something.” Hyunjin reached out and rubbed at the spot between Heejin’s neck and shoulder, making the Gryffindor purse her lips to avoid making any squirming sounds. She ignored the heat on her cheeks and Hyunjin’s little smirk and stood up straight, trying to look a bit taller. Heejin wanted to get back at her because lately Hyunjin had been making her feel too flustered and it was starting to hurt Heejin’s pride.

 

 A few days after their little chat at the Slytherin game, Heejin had run into Hyunjin at the owlery (Heejin _despised_ that place, but she had to send an emergency letter to her parents and none of her friends could do it for her), and it just so happened that Hyunjin’s owl decided to land on Heejin’s shoulder, making Heejin scream, drop her letter and fall to the ground to cover herself while she cried. Hyunjin had _laughed_ at her and didn’t stop laughing even when Heejin stood up to repeatedly hit Hyunjin’s chest. Hyunjin had wrapped her arms around Heejin when more owls started to fly around, disrupted by Heejin’s scream and had walked her out of the small tower towards the safety of the snow-covered stairs. Then she had to ruin it by saying something along the lines of _I thought Gryffindors were supposed to be brave, but worry not princess, your knight is here._ Of course, Heejin was annoyed and replied that if Hyunjin was the knight she’d much rather let herself be eaten by the dragon- or the owls, in this case. She had hit Hyunjin one last time before she left, but made sure to pick up her letter and told Hyunjin to send it for her. (Hyunjin didn’t tell Heejin her knees were dirty with owl poop, figuring the girl would notice soon enough. _That’s what she gets… I’d be the best knight ever)._

Then, not even a week after that, Heejin saw Hyunjin talking with Kim Minjoo _too_ close for her liking. Not like she cared. But still, she couldn’t help but stop in her tracks and stare at both girls, scowling when Minjoo played with her hair and touched Hyunjin’s shoulder. Hyunjin caught Heejin’s eyes and _winked_ at her before tucking Minjoo’s hair behind her ear, and Heejin was _fuming_. Minjoo laughed in a flirty way and left with a giggle when her friends called her over; Heejin walked past Hyunjin with her head held high and yanked her arm away from Hyunjin’s grasp when she tried to stop her. Later during dinner, Heejin wanted to walk over to the Slytherin table and drop an entire jar of pumpkin juice on Hyunjin’s head to erase that stupid smug smile.

And now this.

There had to be a way for Heejin to get back at Hyunjin somehow…

“Ah, yes, how could I forget you are always there for the rescue… thank you, _Hyunjinnie,_ ” Heejin surged forward and kissed Hyunjin’s cheek, effectively making the Slytherin stay frozen in place. “I owe you one. Well, see you around.” This time Heejin winked and speed walked up the stairs, having to jump when they started to move. Once she was far away enough, Heejin covered her face and screamed, not quite believing she had done such thing.

 

 

(“Oh dear, you’re so red! Are you feeling ok?” The fat lady asked concerned over Heejin’s flushed state.

“Yeah, yeah, everything is more than fine.”)

 

 

//

 

 

“Yerim, please, can we talk?”

“I’m busy now.” Yerim tried to walk past Hyejoo, but the Slytherin grabbed her arm and made her stop in the middle of the hallway.

“I know you have study period now and I know you haven’t been to that classroom once this year,” Hyejoo said softly, looking at anywhere but into Yerim’s eyes. “Please, it’s just a minute.”

Yerim was hurt, and she wanted to tell Hyejoo that no, she didn’t have a minute to talk. But Hyejoo’s touch felt weird after days of not being near each other and Yerim hated it, hated Hyejoo having to stare at her own feet because she was afraid of facing Yerim’s anger.

But most importantly, Yerim missed her; she missed them cuddling, Hyejoo’s little happy sounds every time she ate something delicious during dinner and the way her hair fell over her face when they studied together and the Slytherin was focused on her work, unlike Yerim who spent her time doodling and staring at her friend.

 

“It better be only a minute.”

 

Hyejoo let go of Yerim’s arm and walked them both to the library, keeping her distance from the Hufflepuff instead of holding her hand like she used to. They headed to the muggle books section that was almost always empty and sat down behind the dusty shelves, facing each other. Hyejoo bit her lip and fiddled with her fingers over her lap, and the moment her eyes met Yerim’s she started to tear up. With a deep breath and shaky voice, she began to speak.

“I regretted running away like that the second I had one foot outside the room. God, Yerim, I wanted nothing more than to go back to you and hug you and tell you how much- tell you everything I feel for you. I got scared, Yerm, I’m sorry. It was all too sudden, and I got overwhelmed, but I promise I didn’t mean to leave you like that.”

“I thought I had misread everything,” Yerim’s voice broke slightly, and she flinched when Hyejoo grabbed her hand but didn’t pull away. “I was afraid I had ruined everything.”

“ _I_ was afraid of having ruined everything,” Hyejoo chuckled sadly, feeling relieved when Yerim smiled despite the single tear that fell down her cheek. “I’m sorry Yerm.” Yerim held Hyejoo’s hand tighter and moved closer until their knees were touching.

“These days apart from you were the worst. I missed you a lot.” Yerim whispered, interlaced their fingers together and rested her chin on top of her knees.

“I missed you, too.” Hyejoo bit her lip and ran her thumb over the back of Yerim’s hand, sighing when she felt the other girl doing the same. Both girls started to get close to each other absentmindedly, and at one point they were so close Hyejoo could count Yerim’s eyelashes and gawk at the way her eyes were shining.

Hyejoo held her breath when their noses grazed against each other, and she was already closing the distance when the bookshelf behind her shook abruptly and a few books fell on the other side. Both girls pulled apart surprised and stood up to check who was there, trying to hide their blushing cheeks from each other.

 Yerim blushed even harder when she saw Jiwoo rubbing her head with a pained expression, and Jungeun apologizing to her- it would have been almost normal, had it not been for the fact that Jungeun was pinning Jiwoo against the shelf with her hand on her ass.

“Jiwoo?” Hyejoo asked, mouth agape and staring at her friend as if she had grown a second head.

“Oh my god, the kids,” Jiwoo looked absolutely mortified as she pushed Jungeun away from her. “Should I obliviate them?”

“Excuse me?” Yerim chimed in, standing in front of Hyejoo protectively.

“Don’t be dumb, Jiwoo,” Jungeun laughed, very amused at the situation unlike Jiwoo, who was covering her face in shame. “They’re like seventy years old each.”

“Look who’s talking,” Yerim replied defensively, apologizing with a chuckle when she realized she had been rude.

“You don’t look too surprised…” Jungeun noted, staring at Yerim questioningly.

“Yeah, well, maybe I’d be surprised if you were, I don’t know, lowkey about it all?” Yerim shrugged when Jiwoo looked at her offended, “We saw you cuddling on the train to London.”

“I told you your invisible charm didn’t work!” Jiwoo yelled at Jungeun, who was still laughing as she leaned against another shelf.

“Well, darling, the secret’s out… has been for a while, actually,” Jungeun smiled apologetically. She shifted her gaze to Hyejoo who was still standing with her mouth open behind Yerim. “Why is she so surprised, though?” Jungeun raised an eyebrow and pointed at the Slytherin.

“She’s easily impressed,” Yerim excused her friend and turned around to snap her fingers in front of Hyejoo’s face. The girl closed her mouth and rubbed her eyes, turning around and heading to the exit.

“See you at dinner, Jiwoo… how am I supposed to sleep now with the image of Jungeun grabbing Jiwoo’s ass.” Hyejoo whispered the last part and before Yerim could follow her, Jiwoo grabbed her arm and looked at the younger Hufflepuff quizzically.

“Is everything fine with you two now?”

“Oh, yeah, everything is alright so don’t worry. You can, uh, go back to what you were doing.” Yerim smiled awkwardly and rushed out of the library. Jiwoo sighed and let Jungeun hug her from behind, pressing their cheeks together.

“I’m glad they made up, but I still want to know what happened…” Jungeun could tell Jiwoo about how Hyejoo and Yerim clearly had something going on, or how she saw them sitting closer than normal friends do when they entered the library, but she’d much rather see Jiwoo’s astonished face when she finally caught them together.

After all, Jungeun knew secrets didn’t last too long in Hogwarts.

 

 

//

 

 

February in Hogwarts was really something else.

 

For people like Jungeun and Jiwoo; young, silly and _in love,_ it meant happiness and days filled with giggles and kisses.

For people like Hyejoo and Yerim; shy and innocent, it meant excitement and hopeful dreams of what the future could bring.

And for people like Hyunjin and Heejin, well…

 

 

Hyunjin was absolutely _done._ The obnoxious pink hearts hanging from every damn threshold and the even more stupid fairies delivering love messages made her absolutely sick, not to mention the flowers on every corner triggering her pollen allergies.

“Can you cheer up a bit? You’re like, valentine’s day’s Grinch.” Jungeun teased one day during breakfast a week before _the dreadful day_ , as Hyunjin called it.

“Can you shut the fuck up?” Hyunjin replied without looking at her blonde friend, too busy glaring at all the greasy boys that were clearly gathering enough courage to approach Heejin.

“Leave her alone, Jungie, she’s just upset cause her dearest Heejin isn’t even looking her way.” Sooyoung teased, having very easily caught on her friend’s huge crush.

“Cut it,” Jinsol reprimanded them and rubbed Hyunjin’s shoulder comfortingly. “You should go ask her out-”

“Are you out of your damn mind?” Hyunjin looked terrified at the idea of asking Heejin out, having made no progress at all in the past month and a half they had been back to being… acquaintances.

“Well, if you don’t do it, Felix over there might.” Hyunjin looked at the shy boy uninterestedly.

“She’s a whole ass lesbian so I’m not exactly worried about him.” Hyunjin shrugged and everyone else on the table gave her a tired look.

“Just ten seconds ago you were thinking about hexing that first year that approached Heejin with a bouquet.” Jungeun deadpanned.

“Whatever, she can do as she pleases.” Hyunjin sighed and stood up, trying really hard to not let her sadness show. Neither of her friends tried to stop her, knowing Hyunjin was stubborn and needed time to think by herself.

“If you don’t help her somehow, I won’t have another choice but to kidnap them and throw them in a broom closet until they make out,” Sooyoung said and Jungeun was going to punch her but ended up deflating in her seat instead.

“I’m starting to think that might be the only way.”

 

~

 

“Can you please go talk to her?” Jiwoo asked exasperatedly, tired of Heejin pretending not to notice Hyunjin’s insistent stare on her. “I might have to go and ask her out for you if you don’t do something soon.”

“I don’t know what you expect me to do, Jiwoo-”

“Ask her out!”

“As I was saying,” Heejin ignored her friend who was growing more and more impatient. “She doesn’t like me… she annoys me because it’s fun for her but that’s it, and ever since that dumb game she has a bunch of girls after her. She’s not gonna pay attention to me if girls like Minjoo and Gyuri are after her.”

“You’re so dumb,” Jiwoo sobbed, grabbing her hair desperately. “If you don’t ask her out I won’t hesitate to shave both of your eyebrows while you sleep.”

In the midst of Jiwoo losing her sanity, Heejin felt _another_ tap on her shoulder, and she turned around to find Felix smiling at her shyly, holding a box of chocolates in his hands.

“Good morning, Heejin; Jiwoo,” The boy greeted politely and gave Heejin the gift. “I wanted to know if you would like to go out with me for valentine’s day? It’s ok if you don’t want to, I just thought I’d ask.” He said scratching the back of his head, and Heejin felt bad about having to turn him down.

“Felix, I’m flattered, but I have to say no.” Heejin smiled apologetically but Felix only nodded and gave Heejin an awkward thumbs up before walking to where his friends were waiting for him to pat his shoulders comfortingly.

“That’s the sixth boy that asks me out today… why aren’t any girls doing so?” Heejin asked as she looked around the great hall with a pout. “Do I look straight?”

“Say goodbye to your eyebrows, Jeon Heejin,” Jiwoo said dramatically and stood up, hitting her hands on the table before heading to the exit.

“Hey! Wait!” Heejin grabbed one last sandwich from the tray in front of her and stuffed it in her mouth before grabbing her bag to follow Jiwoo. “’S not fair!” Heejin yelled with half of the sandwich sticking out, flipping as she spoke. Jiwoo didn’t wait for her and fastened her steps, jumping on the stairs when they started to move and effectively leaving Heejin on the first floor.

“Loser!” Jiwoo screamed and pointed her finger at Heejin before she was out of sight. Heejin flipped her finger at her even if Jiwoo didn’t get to see it; she made a turn to walk down the stairs and came face to face with Hyunjin. They looked at each other in silence for a few seconds before Heejin realized she still had the half-chewed sandwich in her mouth and quickly pushed the rest of it inside.

“Always so elegant, princess.” Hyunjin snickered and bit her lip, trying to hide the fact that Heejin was making her feel butterflies in her stomach.

“Shut up,” Heejin mumbled once she had swallowed and nudged Hyunjin with her shoulder, leaning against the railing as they waited for the next set of stairs. Hyunjin shuffled on her spot, hands behind her back as she looked at the ceiling. “Did you want something?” Heejin asked curiously, as it wasn’t common to see Hyunjin acting so shy.

 Heejin was standing a few steps above from Hyunjin, so the Slytherin had to look up at her and it made her feel vulnerable, not used to being the short one. Hyunjin seemed to ponder over something before quickly dismissing it, opting to copy Heejin and lean in the same way.

“Nope. Just on my way to get my books.” Hyunjin said nonchalantly.

“Hmm… you know these stairs go up, right? And your dorm is in the dungeons?” Heejin raised an eyebrow teasingly when Hyunjin’s disinterested expression was replaced by one of slight panic.

“Ha, yes Heejin, I know, I just so happen to have left my books in Jinsol’s room.” _Nice save._

“Ah, I see...” Things between them had become painfully awkward, especially when the stairs arrived and a couple of guys came down holding hands.

“So… Felix, huh?” Hyunjin asked as casually as possible, going up the steps slowly.

“He’s a nice guy and all but you know… not exactly my type.” Heejin shrugged.

“Not your type of guy?”

“Not my kind of person,” Heejin chuckled, sparing a glance at Hyunjin. “You know I like girls.”

“I know, I was just making sure…”

“Hmm… so, Minjoo?” Heejin bit her tongue, regretting asking that question as she was rather afraid of the answer.

“I’m not interested,” Hyunjin replied simply, stalling in the hallway when they had to go separate ways. She still seemed like she wanted to ask something, but she didn’t dare to. “See you later?”

“Yeah, see you,” Heejin replied lowly, resisting the urge to go after Hyunjin when she left.

 

_Maybe some other time._


	8. The set up.

Jiwoo had a plan.

No, scratch that, she had _the_ plan, a _master plan._ Infalliable, if you asked her, and the product of a bright mind like no other.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea?” Jungeun questioned her while they were hanging out in the Gryffindor’s room, tired of Jiwoo rubbing her hands like a movie villain (or a fly, but Jungeun couldn’t tell her that without earning a punch) and not giving her any attention.

“For the third time, Jungie, there’s no way this plan doesn’t work… lend me a piece of parchment, I need to perfect it.”

Jungeun bit her lip and pointed to the paper on the small desk, telling Jiwoo to use as much as she needed. Jiwoo was so focused and excited about her plan, Jungeun had to bite her tongue to avoid complaining about how Jiwoo’s plan messed up with Jungeun’s own secret plan.

 

//

 

Heejin groaned when she walked into the great hall one morning to find Hyejoo and Yerim sitting together at the Hufflepuff table. She halted her step to ponder if she should just sit on the Gryffindor table for once or grab a plate and go eat somewhere else (the elves might get mad, but Heejin would much rather prefer a tiny elf to be upset than to sit in between her friends’ tension again); the Hufflepuff table had the best cupcakes but Heejin was starting to question if it was worth it.

She was still trying to make her decision when Jiwoo appeared next to her with a smile that made Heejin a bit uneasy. The Hufflepuff looked like the Cheshire cat, and the evil glint on her eye was one Heejin absolutely feared.

“What did you do…?” Heejin asked as she took a step away from Jiwoo.

“Me? Nothing, why do you ask? Come on, I’m starving.” Jiwoo intertwined their arms together leaving Heejin no room for escape, and in the back of her mind Heejin thought about Hyunjin, and if she was willing to be her knight in shining armor when Jiwoo eventually lost her mind.

Both girls sat down on their usual spots and Heejin was glad to see Hyejoo and Yerim weren’t avoiding each other anymore but were rather completely absorbed in their own little world. It wasn’t until Heejin tried to steal the _last_ cupcake from Yerim’s plate that the girl tore her eyes away from Hyejoo’s face to slap Heejin’s hand.

“I can’t believe Valentine's day is this weekend already,” Jiwoo said casually as she eyed the breakfast options, ending up choosing one of each.

“Do you have any plans?” Heejin asked, taking the opportunity to steal a glance at the Slytherin table where Hyunjin was giggling as Jungeun and Jinsol argued about something, Jinsol moving her arms around trying to prove her point. Maybe she stared for a bit too long because when she looked back at Jiwoo the creepy grin was back on her face.

“Not really, I was going to ask you girls out, actually.”

“What about Jungeun?”

“You knew!?” Yerim and Hyejoo yelled in unison, clearly offended that they had been the last ones to find out.

“Uh, yeah? You didn’t?” Heejin shrugged it off as if it was the most obvious thing.

“No! We had to find out when Jun-” Yerim covered Hyejoo’s mouth with her hand to muffle her voice that was becoming too loud and rested her other hand on the girl’s thigh under the table to calm her down, but it only made Hyejoo gulp nervously.

“Ollie, no need to yell about it, alright? The whole school doesn’t need to know that…” Yerim leaned in, still not letting go of Hyejoo’s mouth as she whispered to Heejin. “Jungeun was groping Jiwoo in the library.”

“She was not!” Jiwoo screamed offended that her friend said such thing (even if it was true) and Heejin snorted, a few drops of her juice dripping down her chin.

“Damn, Jiwooming, that explains your sudden interest in the library…” Jiwoo was beet red, eyes closed and taking deep breaths to keep herself from smacking Yerim.

“It was traumatizing,” Hyejoo said now that Yerim had uncovered her mouth, but she had a teasing smirk ready to annoy Jiwoo. “You should’ve seen it, Jiwoo was pinned against the shelves and all.”

“That’s enough!” Jiwoo whined and tried to reach over the table to punch her friends, but Heejin stopped her grabbing her robes and pulling her back onto the seat. “You’re all so mean…”

After the girls’ laughter died down and Jiwoo had chugged half of the juice on the jar to calm down, she tucked her hair behind her ear and sat up straight, trying to act seriously.

“As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted and mocked, I do not have plans and I wanted to know if you girls were interested in going out with me.”

Hyejoo and Yerim shared a knowing look and declined Jiwoo’s invitation, saying they had already made plans with Hyejoo’s friends from the chess club. Heejin didn’t buy it ( _is Hyejoo even part of that club?_ ),  but she didn’t have time to question her friends as Jiwoo was already looking at her expectantly, tugging at her sleeve.

There was a trap, Heejin knew there had to be; but she also thought that maybe Jiwoo was upset with Jungeun over the whole not-being-official issue, maybe Jiwoo genuinely wanted to spend the holiday with her friend. _Oh well, what is there to lose._

“Uh, sure Jiwooming, I’d love to.”

 

//

 

Hyunjin was lying on her bed, making a fake snitch fly around her room when she heard someone knocking on her door to the beat of some tune Hyunjin didn’t recognize. Jungeun popped her head inside, grinning at Hyunjin in an uncanny way as she let herself in.

“What do you want?” Hyunjin asked clearly annoyed. She had managed to stay in her room all morning to avoid the _lovesick fucking fools_ that were _swarming the castle with their unprompted and uncalled for public demonstrations of affection._

“Can’t I just come to visit my dearest friend?”

“No.”

Jungeun rolled her eyes and let herself fall on top of Hyunjin, who groaned as she wasn’t able to push Jungeun off of her. “You’re crushing me, asshole.”

“That sounds a lot like your problem.” When Hyunjin’s punches started to hurt Jungeun moved to the side and stuck her tongue out at her friend.

“Seriously, what do you want?”

“Go out with me.”

Hyunjin raised an eyebrow and squinted at Jungeun, trying to figure out what the trick was.

“Shouldn’t you be going out with Jiwoo?”

“She’s not talking to me… I don’t know why she’s upset.” Jungeun easily lied, doing her best to act hurt.

“Maybe if you showered once in a while she’d talk to you.” Hyunjin teased, having bought Jungeun’s lie and trying to cheer her friend up.

“Look who’s talking, you’re stinking up the whole dungeons, I can smell you all the way from the Gryffindor tower,” With all the bickering, Jungeun managed to get a smile out of Hyunjin who had been sulking ever since she woke up. “Come on, dress nicely and let’s go.”

“You owe me a big one, you hear me, Kim?” Hyunjin said getting out of bed with disdain.

“Whatever you say, Kim…”

 

~

 

“I hate this so much,” Hyunjin muttered, scarf up to her nose to avoid _catching an infection from these dumbasses._

“Cut it, Hyun, you look like that grumpy cat.”

“The what?”

“I don’t know, Jiwoo showed me a pic of a cat frowning and I swear it’s you in cat form. But that’s not the point, the point is you should change that long face and enjoy our beautiful day out.”

Hyunjin rolled her eyes, keeping her stare fixed on the ground because all the couples around her were making her sick. Not that she would admit it, but Hyunjin was afraid of looking into one of the cafés and finding Heejin on a date with someone, and she secretly wished for Heejin to be either with her friends or alone because Hyunjin wouldn’t be able to handle seeing Heejin on a date.

“Come on, Sol said she’d meet us here.” Jungeun lied, again, knowing damn well Jinsol and Sooyoung were in hogshead trying to buy some fire whiskey. The sign outside the shop read _perfect love!_ In pastel colors with small hearts floating around the words, and the interior was even worse. When Jungeun opened the door for her, Hyunjin scowled at the amount of pink plaguing the store.

The cups had pink lace around them, the tablecloths were pink, even the clerks’ aprons had some shade of pink. _Disgusting._

“Look, you go save us a table and I’ll order, alright?” Jungeun left before Hyunjin could reply or even tell her she wanted a black coffee, as bitter as possible. Hyunjin rolled her eyes for the nth time that day and she scanned the place trying to find an empty table; however, her heart stopped when she saw Heejin sitting alone by the window, apparently waiting for someone. Hyunjin’s heart then started beating way too fast when their eyes met, and now that Heejin had seen her, Hyunjin’s idea of running away and moving to Japan was ruined. Heejin waved shyly and Hyunjin started to walk over her table as she tried to even her breath.

“Hey,” Heejin said softly and bit her lip nervously.

“Hi, princess. Waiting for your date?” Hyunjin wanted to slap herself for asking such thing, she really had to start biting her tongue.

“Um, yes, actually. Chaewon should be here soon.”

“Kim Chaewon? Gryffindor’s chaser?” Hyunjin clenched her fists, and she thought about becoming a beater just to launch a bludger straight into the girl’s face.

“Yeah,” Heejin tried to act serious but after three seconds she couldn’t help bursting out laughing, and she quickly reached out to hold Hyunjin’s hand to make her loosen her clenched fists before she hurt her own hand. “God, Hyun, I’m kidding. I’m here with Jiwoo, please breath before you combust.”

Hyunjin felt so embarrassed she seriously considered digging a hole in the earth herself and hiding there until she ran out of oxygen. Her cheeks were flushed red and even the tips of her ears felt warm. Hyunjin closed her eyes and dropped her head slightly, very ashamed and praying nobody else in that store had seen her making a fool of herself.

She wasn’t expecting a pair of small hands holding her cheeks; Hyunjin opened her eyes to see Heejin standing close in front of her, smiling so wide her eyes looked like crescent moons.

“I’m sorry…”

“It’s ok, it’s cute. You’re cute.” Heejin said but then blushed when she realized she had said that out loud.

“So, where’s Jiwoo?” Hyunjin asked trying to get over the very awkward situation. Heejin looked around the shop expecting to see Jiwoo in line, but the girl was nowhere to be found. Just when Heejin was about to go look for her friend in the bathrooms, they heard someone knocking on the window beside them.

Jiwoo and Jungeun were outside of the shop with big mischievous grins; Jungeun sent Hyunjin a big thumbs up while Jiwoo blew onto the glass to draw a heart on the condensation.

“Good luck, dummies!” They could hear Jiwoo clearly even with the glass between them, and both girls were blushing deeply. Jungeun grabbed Jiwoo’s waist and kissed her, winking at Hyunjin when Jiwoo hid her face on the blonde’s neck embarrassed.

“You’ve got it champ.” And with that, they left skipping down the street like children. Hyunjin shuffled in her place as she bit her lip nervously; Heejin sat down on the table and gave Hyunjin a pleading look, asking her to stay. She didn’t need to ask twice.

Hyunjin took the seat in front of Heejin’s, and soon a fairy delivered them their drinks, “ _courtesy of those two friends of yours.”_

Hyunjin took a sip of her coffee (that wasn’t black or bitter, but had milk and a foam heart on the surface) and Heejin stirred her purple smoothie with the straw. The fairy had also left a tiny blueberry cake with two forks, and Hyunjin wanted to murder Jungeun when she noticed the two H’s glazed on top.

“I can’t believe we fell on their trap,” Heejin commented, trying hard to make the awkward mood dissipate.

“I knew they had planned something, I shouldn’t have let Jungeun convince me to come here.” Hyunjin regretted her words when she saw Heejin’s hurt expression and slouched shoulders, looking tiny in her seat.

“You don’t have to stay-”

“No, no, I’m sorry Heekkie, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m glad to be here with you right now.” Hyunjin reached over the table and held Heejin’s hand, stroking it with her thumb softly.

“You haven’t called me that in a while…” Heejin had a shy smile on her lips, and Hyunjin could swear her eyes were shining.

“Does it bother you?”

“No, I kinda missed it actually…”

Hyunjin took another sip of her drink, hearing her heart beat in her ears. She was trying to come up with something witty to say when she saw Heejin leaning in to wipe a napkin over Hyunjin’s lip, making the red tint of Hyunjin’s cheek turn crimson.

“You had a foam mustache.” Heejin chuckled.

“Aw man, I heard that was the latest trend in Seoul…” Heejin grinned when Heejin giggled again, and she pushed the cake towards the Gryffindor. “You can have the first bite, and most of it, really.”

“What happened? I thought you loved sweets…” Heejin said as she cut a tiny piece of the cake- neither of them mentioning the H’s.

“I do, but with the number of sweets I’ve seen in the last week, I’m starting to feel a bit nauseous. Jungeun’s fangirls gave her a load of chocolates and I swear if Jiwoo hadn’t thrown most of them out Jungeun and I would have eaten them all.”

“Oh yeah, Jiwoo told me about that. She was so pissed, I’m sure she wanted to set the boxes on fire.”

Hyunjin started to feel more at ease with each passing second and apparently so did Heejin, who stopped covering her mouth when she laughed and even playfully kicked Hyunjin’s legs under the table once in a while. When Hyunjin finished her coffee, she found a heart on the bottom of the cup and showed it to Heejin with a roll of her eyes and a tiny smile.

The sun had begun to set and Hyunjin was afraid the evening would get colder on their way to school, seeing as Heejin was only wearing a thin sweater.

“Do you think we should get going?” Hyunjin asked after Heejin had popped the last piece of cake into her mouth, and the Gryffindor agreed with a smile.

Hyunjin opened the door for Heejin on their way out, loving the way Heejin blushed. Just as Hyunjin had thought, the snow was falling harder and the tip of Heejin’s nose was getting red.

“Here,” Hyunjin said quickly taking her bomber jacket off. “Don’t want you catching a cold, princess.”

Heejin accepted the coat, too cold to actually try and argue that it wasn't necessary. She let herself be enveloped in the warmth, enjoying how it smelled like Hyunjin- like lemons, morning dew and the tiniest hint of vanilla. In an act of boldness, Heejin held Hyunjin’s hand on their walk down the street towards the castle. She expected Hyunjin to flinch, but instead, she intertwined their fingers and gave Heejin’s hand a firm squeeze.

“I had a very nice time, Hyun… Thanks for staying.”

“Are you kidding? No way I’d leave you alone like that… not again.” Hyunjin said and suddenly the whole mood changed, the once sweet taste in her mouth replaced by something bitter.

“Hey, that’s in the past, you know I don’t-”

Hyunjin halted her step, making Heejin stop as well. And under a lamppost, _how cliché_. Hyunjin reprimanded herself when she felt tears prickle at the corner of her eyes, and she took a deep breath before looking into Heejin’s own glossy eyes.

“I feel so guilty, Heekkie. I’ve never even offered you a sincere apology, I was an ass and- I’m tired, Heejin. I’m tired of pretending I don’t care, of looking the other way when you walk by and trying to convince myself that my heart doesn’t flutter erratically every time you smile at me. Every time I so much as graze your hand with mine I immediately miss your touch and all I want is to pull you close to me and let you know just how much I like you,” Hyunjin wiped the tears that were falling down her cheeks with her sleeve, still not letting go of Heejin’s hand. “I don’t want to leave you ever again. I was so scared back then, Heejin, but I am _so_ tired of it; I’m not scared anymore... I spent my days acting like I didn’t miss you but now that you’re somehow back into my life, I know I can’t afford to let you go, not again, not ever.”

Heejin stepped closer until their bodies were practically pressing together, she cupped Hyunjin’s cheeks and moved a strand of hair that had fallen over her face behind her ear.

“You need to understand I forgive you, Hyun. From the bottom of my heart, I want nothing more than to leave all that behind and move on. We were kids, and we’ve grown up now,” Heejin’s stare flickered between Hyunjin’s eyes and her lips, and she wetted her own lips with the tip of her tongue unconsciously. “I don’t want to dwell on the past if I can be with you now.”

Hyunjin, who had her hands clenched by her sides, moved them to rest on Heejin’s waist. Heejin was still holding her face, moving closer almost unperceptively.

 

“Can I kiss you?” Hyunjin whispered, stare locked on Heejin’s slightly parted lips.

“I think I might die if you don’t.”

 

They closed the distance. Heejin’s lips were soft against Hyunjin’s, a faint taste of blueberry still lingering as their lips slotted against each other perfectly like they had been meant to be. Heejin moved her arms to wrap them around Hyunjin’s neck, twirling a strand of hair in her finger. Hyunjin felt like she was walking on clouds when Heejin slightly nibbled on her bottom lip before pulling away.

They rested their foreheads against each other, and neither could contain the giggles that escaped them.

“I feel like I’ve been wanting to do that ever since I met you,” Hyunjin said a bit breathlessly.

“No one’s stopping you from doing that again, you know.”

 

With the snow falling on them, pressed close together with the warm light of the lamppost shining on them, Hyunjin started to understand everyone’s liking for Valentine's day.

 

//

 

“I hope those two idiots can work it all out,” Jiwoo thought out loud as she walked down the snowy street holding Jungeun’s hand, swinging it back and forth. Jungeun stayed quiet, too busy biting her lip nervously. “Hey, are you ok?” Jiwoo asked concerned.

Jungeun stared at Jiwoo for a second, admiring how the sun that broke through the clouds made Jiwoo’s brown eyes look like honey, and just how pretty she looked overall.

“Yeah, just thinking.” Jiwoo hummed, trying really hard to give Jungeun her space, but her curiosity ended up winning her over.

“A kiss for your thoughts?” Jiwoo smiled at Jungeun, hoping to make the blonde loosen up a bit. Jungeun grinned and pinched Jiwoo’s cheek, making the younger girl whine.

“Nothing that you should worry about, love. Do you want to go get some ice cream?” Jungeun asked clearly trying to change the subject.

“It’s snowing…”

“Ok, do you want to go get some ice cream?” Jiwoo giggled and nodded nonetheless, pressing a chaste kiss to Jungeun’s cheek and even making a _mwah_ sound.

Jiwoo played with the rings on Jungeun’s fingers as they entered the ice cream shop and swooned when Jungeun order for the both of them, knowing exactly how Jiwoo liked her ice cream (and it was remarkable, really, not everyone could remember she liked a scoop of chocolate with peanuts, raspberry sauce on top of  that, then a lemon scoop, white chocolate topping, and sprinkles).

They sat down in one of the benches outside the shop and Jiwoo rested her legs on Jungeun’s lap, happily scrapping her ice cream. One thing Jungeun found absolutely endearing about Jiwoo was that even with such a weird combination of flavors, she still insisted on Jungeun sharing her simple vanilla one with her. Jungeun was whipped, so she just made sure to scoop a lot on her tiny spoon and fed Jiwoo, heart warming up when the girl smiled widely at her.

“How do you think Heejin and Hyunjin are doing?”

“Well, they’ve been there for almost an hour so my guess is either Hyunjin managed to run away through the bathroom window _or_ they are having a nice conversation.”

They ate the rest of their ice creams in silence, Jiwoo opening her mouth once in a while to ask for more of Jungeun’s scoop. When they were done, they decided to go back to the school and make the most out of the mostly empty castle. Jiwoo was animatedly rambling about one of her muggle TV shows when Jungeun decided to finally make her move.

She grabbed Jiwoo’s arm and made them both stop abruptly; Jiwoo almost lost her balance but Jungeun hugged her tightly, preventing her from falling. Jiwoo didn’t even have time to ask what was wrong because suddenly, Jungeun was kissing her deeply, taking Jiwoo’s breath way.

Her lips were sweet and slightly cold, but they started to warm up as they continued kissing. Jiwoo rested her hands on Jungeun’s shoulders because she felt her knees giving in when Jungeun swiped her tongue across her lips, and when she deepened the kiss Jiwoo swore the snow around them had started to melt. They pulled apart with a whimper from Jiwoo at the loss of contact.

“You know I love you, right?” Jungeun asked a bit breathlessly, nudging Jiwoo’s cheek with her nose. It was the first time Jungeun had told her so, and Jiwoo felt her heart trying to leap out of her chest.

“I love you too, baby.” Jiwoo cooed happily and nuzzled her face on Jungeun’s shoulder embarrassed.

“Please be my girlfriend? I don’t want to go another day without being able to call you that.” Jungeun’s airy laugh tickled Jiwoo’s ear, and the Hufflepuff cupped Jungeun’s jaw to kiss her again.

“Only if you’re my girlfriend too.”

Jungeun laughed at Jiwoo’s silliness, but nodded and smiled so wide her cheeks were starting to hurt.

“Sounds like a deal.”

“Amazing, now when Chaewon and Yeojin ask you can tell them you have a girlfriend.” Jungeun snorted, not quite believing her girlfriend.

“There’s no need for you to be so jealous, honey. I actually have something for you… so you know that my heart belongs to you even when we’re apart.” Jungeun cringed slightly, thinking it had definitely sounded better in her head, but Jiwoo seemed to love the cheesy phrase so Jungeun just reached for her back pocket, taking out a small box. She opened it to show Jiwoo a pair of silver rings with each of their initials engraved inside.

Jiwoo gasped and covered her mouth, even wiped away fake tears when Jungeun took the ring that said KJE and slid it on Jiwoo’s finger. Jiwoo did the same for Jungeun, kissing the KJW before she put it on Jungeun’s finger. The Hufflepuff squealed excitedly when she joined their hands and admired the matching rings, launching forward to attack Jungeun with kisses.

“Let’s go, baby! I need to tell my mom about this!”

“Jiwoo, wait.”

“Yes?” Jungeun kissed her again when Jiwoo turned around, smiling against her lips.

“I love you.”

 

//

 

“Where are you taking me, Ollie?” Yerim laughed when she stumbled over her own feet, eyes covered with a scarf as Hyejoo led her down a corridor.

“I told you it’s a surprise! Now be careful because there are steps ahead.” Hyejoo made sure Yerim didn’t trip again by holding her hand, and once Yerim was done she felt the ground beneath her feet soften. The soft breeze that disheveled her hair confirmed Yerim’s suspicions that they were somewhere on the grounds, but she trusted Hyejoo to keep leading the way.

“Are we here?” Yerim asked when Hyejoo made her stop and she heard the girl moving some things around.

“Just one second, and… there,” Hyejoo removed the scarf, revealing a picture perfect picnic set up in front of the lake. “Surprise…”

“Ollie…” Yerim was speechless, and she turned to find Hyejoo smiling coyly. “ Did you do this all by yourself?”

“Chae helped me get the checkered blanket and the basket. But other than that, yeah, I guess I did.” Hyejoo shrugged, acting like it was no big deal. But Yerim was surprised at the obvious effort Hyejoo had placed into the picnic, so she hugged her and kissed her cheek sweetly.

“It’s really perfect, Hye. Thank you.”

“Let’s sit down, yeah? I got you your favorites.” Hyejoo said excitedly as she rummaged through the basket. Yerim sat crossed legged next to her and felt her heart swell when Hyejoo pulled out grilled cheese sandwiches. Ever since Jiwoo’s mom had made them when they visited her, Yerim hadn’t been able to stop talking about them.

“God, Hyejoo, I love you so much…” Yerim exclaimed before she started happily munching one of the sandwiches, oblivious to the way Hyejoo blushed. Hyejoo pulled out Jiwoo’s music box (or a speaker, like Jiwoo called it) and played Yerim’s favorite songs.

They sat next to each other under the warm sun enjoying the food and the music quietly, stealing glances when they thought the other wasn’t looking.

After a while, Yerim scooped a bit of snow in her hand and made a tiny ball. She threw it to Hyejoo playfully, and the Slytherin gasped surprised.

“Wow, this betrayal…” She made her own snowball and threw it at Yerim until they were both covered in snow.

“Truce! Truce! My clothes are starting to get too wet,” Yerim laughed loudly, leaning on Hyejoo’s shoulder when they ceased fire. “Thank you, Ollie. You didn’t need to do all this.”

“I wanted to… I thought we could go to Hogsmeade but this seemed more fun.”

“Mhm, it was really fun,” Yerim kissed Hyejoo’s cheek again and was surprised when Hyejoo returned the gesture. “Thank you…”

“I was no problem, really… I, um, I’ve been meaning to ask you something, Yerimmie…” Hyejoo said lowly, tucking her hair behind her ear.

“Yes?”

“Would you like to go out with me?” Hyejoo blurted it out, trying not to stutter. “Not like girlfriends or anything, not yet at least but, I mean, I would love to be more than friends… it’s ok if you don’t want to, though, I totally understand-”

Hyejoo was cut off by Yerim’s kiss, making her sigh against the Hufflepuff’s lips. They held hands on top of the blanket, and Yerim moved her other hand to caress Hyejoo’s hair.

“Ollie, I would be thrilled to go out with you as more than friends.”

“Really?” Hyejoo asked surprised; she worried their kiss had been a one-time thing and that Yerim would want to forget about it.

“Really. Can I kiss you again?”

“God Yerm, as many times as you want.” Hyejoo chuckled, heart happy when Yerim connected their lips again.


	9. After dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> twice - after moon

“Open your damn mouth.”

“No, don’t wanna.”

“Hyunjin, don’t be like this.” Heejin sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She was holding a spoon with medicine in front of Hyunjin, and the girl was refusing to take it.

“It tastes horrible.”

“It’s not that bad!” Heejin was leaning over Hyunjin as the Slytherin laid on one of the infirmary beds, with at least five covers on top of her and gifts from her friends in the little bedside table. Being chivalrous had it’s downsides, as Hyunjin had caught a cold after making out with Heejin under the snow without her jacket for too long. “You need to be healthy for the finals!”

Hyunjin gave up and opened her mouth, scrunching up her nose at the bitter taste. Heejin left the spoon on the table and petted Hyunjin’s hair, giggling at her sad pout.

“Stop making that face…”

“I will if you give me a kiss.”

“Nu-uh, I can’t catch a cold right now.” Heejin teased, stroking Hyunjin’s ear through the girl’s hair.

“Oh, I see how it is… I thought you were supposed to love me through health _and_ through sickness, but I guess that was just a lie.”

“Hyun, we’re not married.”

“Yet,” Hyunjin winked, and she would have been charming if it wasn’t for the coughing fit that followed her attempts at flirting. “Just leave me here to die.”

“Madam Pomfrey said you’d be good to go tomorrow, and you have enough time to prepare for the game.”

 

With the way Heejin was running her fingers through Hyunjin’s hair, the Slytherin was starting to feel sleepy. Her eyelids were closing slowly, and the image of Heejin was becoming more and more blurry. “Thanks for taking care of me.” She slurred her words a bit, but Heejin understood her nonetheless.

“It’s the least I could do, after all, it kinda is my fault.” Heejin chuckled when she noticed Hyunjin was already asleep, mouth hanging open slightly.

Heejin stayed in the infirmary for a while longer, flipping through a magazine about muggle artifacts (She would definitely have to ask Jiwoo about youtube and if it really had infinite cat videos). 

 

//

“Are you seriously not going to eat anything?” Jinsol asked worriedly, seeing as Hyunjin was stiff in her seat staring at her oatmeal bowl as if it had personally offended her.

“Sol, I feel sick,” Hyunjin muttered, hands clutching her skirt tightly.

“Oh, baby, what’s wrong?” Jinsol moved closer to Hyunjin to check her up and shot a glance at Sooyoung when she rolled her eyes.

“She’s just being dramatic…”

“You shut up. Now, sweetie, does anything hurt?” Hyunjin shook her head and gulped nervously, still not looking at her friends.

“Look, she’s nervous about the game and she doesn’t want to eat,” Sooyoung explained, already knowing Hyunjin all too well.

Hyunjin was _sweating_ at the thought of messing up. Not only was it a big, important game, but this time Heejin would be on the stands cheering for her and Hyunjin didn’t want to let her down. Apparently, Jinsol could read her perfectly because she wrapped her in a warm hug which managed to turn Hyunjin’s nerves down.

“You know Heejin will be with you no matter if you win or lose, right?”

“I know, but I can’t help worrying so much.” Hyunjin huffed, trying hard to calm down.

“Hey, everything is gonna be ok. I promise I’ll jinx the Hufflepuff seeker if I need to.” Jinsol smiled at Hyunjin, and the girl felt a little bit more at ease.

“Thanks, Sol, but I’d rather you don’t jinx anyone.”

“Have it your way but, you know the offer still stands.”

 

~

 

“Hyunjin, dear, you know I love you but if you keep squeezing my hand so hard I’m gonna have to smack you,” Sooyoung said calmly, trying to pry her hand from Hyunjin’s death grip.

They were sitting in the locker room minutes before the final game of the season, and now that Jinsol wasn’t there Hyunjin was feeling bad again.

“I think I’m gonna puke. Oh my god, what if I puke from my broom and it lands on someone?” Hyunjin gulped nervously and tugged at the neck of her sweater, squirming in her seat and trying to grab Sooyoung’s hand again.

“You’ve never been this nervous, Hyun, you’re usually insufferable before every game. There’s nothing different about this game.”

“There’s not!? Heejin is out there holding a sign that says “go Hyunjinnie! (I love my girlfriend)” and waiting for me to do my absolute best!”

“So do your best! You always do!” Sooyoung grabbed Hyunjin by the shoulders trying to get her to stop moving so much. “Besides, she’s dating _you,_ Hyun, I’m pretty sure she knows you’re a loser.”

Hyunjin punched Sooyoung’s shoulder and went to sit between Mina and Eunbi, hoping their calm personalities would somehow rub off on her. Mina smiled at Hyunjin assuringly and offered her hand for Hyunjin to hold, which the girl accepted gratefully.

“Mina? What happens if I don’t catch the snitch first?” Hyunjin asked the team captain worriedly, but the older girl smiled at her soothingly.

“Remember we’re a team, Hyun. If we lose, the blame is in all of us, not just you. You’re the best seeker Slytherin has had in years, just relax and have fun. The world won’t end if we lose.”

Being beside Mina made Hyunjin feel calm and assured. That is until the doors opened and they were informed they were ready to start.  

Everyone stood up excitedly and hurried out of the locker room, but Hyunjin trailed behind them rather slowly, holding her broom so tightly she was sure she would leave fingerprints on the wood. Sooyoung turned around and grabbed Hyunjin’s arm with a kind smile.

“Listen to me, kid. You’ve been working hard all year long just for this moment, alright? And Heejin out there is sickeningly in love with you, believe me, you and I room together and I’ve seen far more stuff than I needed to; one can only hear the word ‘honey’ so many times. She’s not gonna leave you if you fail if anything, she’ll pamper you with love and kisses and I will have to go vomit somewhere because you make me ill.” Hyunjin laughed and hugged Sooyoung thankfully, feeling comforted by her friend’s teasing words.

“You’re right… let’s go kick Hufflepuff ass.”

 

Hyunjin walked into the pitch with her usual cocky smile on her face and mounted her broom with confidence, eyeing their rivals with a smirk. Minjoo was the seeker for Hufflepuff, fast and agile. Their keeper, Seulgi, would be a tough one but Hyunjin trusted her teammates to score all the points they needed. As for the rest of the team, Hyunjin didn’t think they’d be a threat.

The game began with the blow of a whistle, and Hyunjin soared through the clouds in search of the snitch. The chasers of both teams were relentless, and the beaters were doing an amazing job at sending the bludgers at each other. One of the bludgers Momo sent almost hit Eunbi in the head, but the girl managed to avoid it barely by an inch. Hyunjin was sitting on her broom higher than the rest of her teammates, and she allowed herself a second to look at the stands.

Finding Heejin wasn’t hard at all, Hyunjin just had to look for the spot of green in a sea of yellow. Hyunjin chuckled when she saw Jiwoo and Jungeun; Jiwoo was unrecognizable, face painted half black half yellow and screaming at the top of her lungs at Sana to _maul_ Sooyoung. Jungeun was simply wearing Jiwoo’s Hufflepuff scarf (she had made it very clear that she would rather die than cheer for Slytherin) and trying to hold Jiwoo so she wouldn’t fall from the stands. Hyejoo and Yerim stood next the rest of the girls; Hyejoo had silver and green streaks across her face and was cheering loudly shaking a banner in the air, while Yerim had settled for a yellow sweater and called it a day, not really interested in quidditch.

And Heejin stood in the middle of her friends, wearing Hyunjin’s tie around her forehead, Hyunjin’s training green sweater, and holding her sign up in the air. Hyunjin’s heart fluttered and she was about to fly close to her girlfriend when she saw Minjoo moving out of the corner of her eye. She had been too busy staring to remember that the most important game of her life so far was happening just a few meters below her. Hyunjin launched forward on her broom, catching a glimpse of gold at the bottom of the Hufflepuff goal posts. Minjoo was already flying towards it, and Hyunjin used all her strength to go as fast as possible.

“Jihyo!” Hyunjin managed to shout as she flew past the beater, who luckily understood her perfectly and sent a bludger towards Minjoo. It hit the back of her broom, making her lose her balance for a minute, just what Hyunjin needed to reach her.

By the time they reached the posts, the snitch was gone,  and Hyunjin flew back towards her own posts.

“Kim and… Kim had a good battle over there, don’t you think Yeojin?” Chaewon spoke into the microphone from the booth.

“Mhm, I know there’s some tension there, you know, I heard some rumors…”

“Now, now, Yeojin, I will stop you here because I don’t want you to get killed; Hyunjin has a girlfriend and she wants the school to know that they are very much in love. Heejin, I did as you asked, I expect those coins by the end of the week.”

“Woah! Hirai almost killed Park! Better watch out folks, you don’t want blood spilled on you.”

“Truly a game never seen before… I wonder where Hufflepuff's kindness went.”

“They leave it in the locker room, Chae, they leave it there.”

Hyunjin rolled her eyes at the announcers and almost got hit by two bludgers that were being sent her way. Momo was right behind Hyunjin, ready to beat them towards her again, but Hyunjin dodged it and instead, it knocked Jinyoung out of his broom. With a chaser down, the Hufflepuff chasers managed to score thirty more points. Twenty minutes after the game had started, the score table was seventy – fifty in favor of Hufflepuff. Hyunjin was starting to worry, Wonpil had sent a bludger to Sooyoung and hit her on the shoulder, making her a bit slower than usual.

The fast pace of the game had Hyunjin’s heart beating erratically, and she wanted the game to end as soon as possible. After twenty more minutes, she was still flying around the pitch looking for the snitch. She was growing impatient, as it usually took her thirty minutes at most to find it.

Out of nowhere, Minjoo, who had been a few meters away from her, started to fly towards the ground and Hyunjin followed the direction to see the snitch fluttering by the grass. Hyunjin dashed towards it, catching up to Minjoo in no time.

They were neck to neck, and Hyunjin worried she would crash if she didn’t slow down, but she was so close…

A bludger hit her on the side, making her ribs feel on fire, and she fell from the broom. Hyunjin landed on the ground with a thud, and the offended gasp from the Slytherin side got drowned out when the Hufflepuff side erupted in cheers.

Hyunjin’s heart dropped when she heard the final whistle go off, and she lifted her cheek from the dirt to see the whole Hufflepuff team running towards Minjoo, who was jumping up and down with the snitch between her fingers. Hyunjin got up, ignoring the sting in her ribs, and let herself fall into Sooyoung’s embrace. The older girl had flown straight to Heejin the second she saw the bludger flying her way, and she held Hyunjin tightly as the younger Slytherin tried to contain her tears.

“I’m sorry-”

“No, you don’t have to be sorry Hyun. You did all you could.” Sooyoung said softly as she rubbed Hyunjin’s back. The rest of her teammates patted her back, assuring her that it really wasn’t her fault, they had all failed as a team to be better than Hufflepuff.

Hyunjin wiped her tears and followed her team as they congratulated Hufflepuff, shaking hands with a bitter taste in her mouth.

 

She didn’t stay to see them receive the cup.

 

Back in the locker room, Hyunjin rested her head against the shower wall as she let the stream of cold water hit her in the face. She felt guilty, no matter how many times her teammates repeated that it wasn’t her fault.

She only started to feel better when she went outside and found Heejin waiting for her with her sign in her hands

“Go Hyunjinnie,” Heejin said softly as she approached Hyunjin. “I love my girlfriend... a lot.”

 

 It was almost funny how much things had changed since the last time they met outside the locker rooms.

 

Heejin hugged her tightly and kissed her cheek, telling her over and over again how proud she was. Hyunjin didn’t say anything, just let herself enjoy the warmth of Heejin’s embrace as she nuzzled her nose against the girl’s hair. The tie that was around Heejin’s head was now around her neck, and Hyunjin chuckled when she saw the Hufflepuff pin hanging next to the Slytherin crest.

“Rooting for my rival, Jeon?”

“Jiwoo refused to let me out of my room unless I wore it.” Heejin chuckled and hugged Hyunjin again.

“I’m alright, you know… a bit sad, and more than a bit sore, but nothing a good eight hours of sleep and half a roasted chicken can’t fix.”

“And kisses from your girlfriend?”

“Oh, I’m taking those for granted.” Hyunjin smiled and let Heejin pepper kisses all over her face, and then her lips. They stood there for a while more until the rest of the team came out of the locker room,  teasing Hyunjin and saying she “had already won.”

 

“Where are the girls?” Hyunjin asked as they walked hand in hand to the castle.

“Hufflepuff is holding a party and everyone is invited, even Slytherin… Jiwoo dragged Jungeun over there as soon as she was done celebrating with the team, and Hyejoo and Yerim went with them at the promise of butterbeer and lemon cake. We can go, too, if you want.”

“I don’t see why not...”

 

~

 

“I can’t believe you actually stole a whole chicken.” Heejin laughed, looking at Hyunjin as she chewed on a chicken leg hungrily. “And these beers, _and_ even potato salad!”

“And I can’t believe you helped me.” Hyunjin chuckled.

“I couldn’t let you carry it all by yourself, you would have dropped it. Still, you shouldn’t have done it.”

“Hey, they took my trophy, I’m allowed to take their chicken.” Heejin giggled again and let Hyunjin enjoy her food. They were sitting on the balcony of the astronomy tower, the dim moonlight falling over them. Heejin was surprised at how much Hyunjin could eat, she had only eaten one leg and was already full, taking sips from her drink once in a while; but Hyunjin was almost done with the whole thing.

“Here, I don’t want you to choke,” Heejin handed Hyunjin her drink, rolling her eyes lovingly at Hyunjin’s smirking with her mouth full. “Is there any reason, in particular, you wanted to come here?”

“Mhm, I guess this is where we started to forgive each other, it’s kinda special, don’t you think? Besides, the stars look great from here.” Hyunjin wrapped her arm around Heejin as they rested their backs against the brick wall. The soft breeze was rustling their hair, making them giggle when it got in their eyes. “It’s a beautiful night.”

“You know who’s even more beautiful?” Heejin asked, stroking Hyunjin’s cheek who was looking at her expectantly. “Me.” Hyunjin scoffed and shoved Heejin, laughing at her girlfriend’s silliness.

“The worst part is that you are…”

“You know, Hyun, I’m glad we managed to get here, even if it was was difficult and took us a while.”

“Yeah, those stairs killed me.” Heejin nudged Hyunjin with her shoulder and rolled her eyes.

“Dummy. You know what I mean.”

“I know, love. And I feel the same way. I think I’d go through all of that again if it means that eventually, I’ll get to be with you like this.”

 

They kissed softly, without a rush in the world, simply enjoying each other’s presence.

 

“And I’d always be there at the end, waiting for you.”

 

_Like the sun and moon in the sky Although we can’t meet, like them You and I you and I you and I Don’t forget that we’ll be together after dark_

_Even if night and day passes, even if time passes Remember that I will always be by your side_

_Like that moon in the daytime You and I you and I you and I I will always be by your side_

_I’ll be there._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that's a wrap! Thank you to everyone who read and who left comments, this was my first multi chaptered work so I was kind of nervous about how it would turn out, but I'm glad that a lot of people enjoyed it. Now, I wanna thank my beta Juli for putting up with me, and to tell you that while I don't think I will continue this story for now, I definitely might write some one shots here and there, so look out for those. Again, thank you! remember I'm on twitter at @dxhyunism if you have anything you'd like to tell me, my curiouscat is right there. See you next time!


	10. +1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> operation meet the parents

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise! I missed this story too much to not write something else for it. I hope it's good!  
> as always thanks to juli for beta'ing.

Jungeun was in the midst of trying to get her head through the neck of her sweater when she felt someone barging into her room, startling her and making her fall onto her bed. When she heard the door shut loudly, she felt up her pockets until she found her wand and almost shot out a jinx blindly (sight still blocked by the thick wool of her sweater) until she recognized Hyunjin when she began talking.

“Can I hide here until I die?”

After finally managing to free her head, Jungeun glared at Hyunjin and punched her shoulder, heart still beating loudly from the fright.

“You idiot, you almost killed me,” Jungeun took a deep breath and held a hand to her chest, ready to keep up the act until she noticed Hyunjin was very pale and visibly distraught. “Did you walk through the Bloody Baron again?”

“God, I wish,” Hyunjin then walked over to Jungeun and stared deeply into her eyes as she held her friend by the shoulders. “I need you to do me a solid and bury me alive, maybe with a straw poking out so I can breathe, but I need to disappear until next week.”

Jungeun eyed Hyunjin up and down with her eyebrows raised, trying to decide if Hyunjin was being rational or not. As most times, she wasn’t.

“On any day I would do so gladly, but I’m feeling nice today so I will instead ask what’s wrong.”

“Heejin,” At that Jungeun turned serious and sat down on her bed, hoping the girl would sit down next to her; but instead, Hyunjin started to pace back and forth, hands running through her hair nervously.

“What did you do?”

“Excuse me?” Hyunjin then stopped to glare at her best friend in disbelief, “I’m offended you think it’s my fault… It’s not Heejin; per see… it’s more about what she’s asking from me.”

“I told you a million times, you don’t have to dress like nurato if you don’t want to-”

“ _Naruto._ It’s not that… Jiwoo has that covered so I don’t have to- but that’s not what this is about!” Hyunjin made a dramatic pause, now seemingly calmer as she was back to her foolery. “Her parents are in town and she wants me to meet them. Well, them to meet _me,_ actually.”

Jungeun snorted and shook her head as she stood up, patting Hyunjin’s shoulder on her way out. “Good luck with that one then, Champ.”

“What? No, you need to help me!” Hyunjin grabbed Jungeun’s wrist and mustered her best puppy eyes.

“No, what I need is to get to the quidditch field before I’m made to run laps. And don’t even try with the puppy eyes; you know they only work for Jinsol.”

“Jungeun, I will _die._ ”

“You’ll be fine! Honestly, meeting the parents isn’t such a big deal as everyone makes it out to be; I have lunch with Jiwoo’s parents all the time.”

“Yeah but _you_ are a nerd, you bake cookies for Jiwoo’s mom and compliment her dad’s weird mustache. I am Heejin’s ex-bully, remember?”

“Ex-bully… you’re giving yourself too much credit,” Jungeun grunted when she tried to leave only to have Hyunjin trail right behind her. “You’re worse than Jiwoo.”

“I’ll tell her you said that.”

“Ok, bye Hyun.”

“Help me,” Hyunjin whined dragging her words and trying to hold Jungeun from walking any further. Jungeun turned around and rolled her eyes at the slytherin practically begging on her knees at that point.

Jungeun sighed and pushed Hyunjin away from her, fixing her sweater when she didn’t try to grab her again.

“When are you supposed to meet them?”

“Next Sunday…”

“We have time, then,” Jungeun’s lips twitched into a smile when she saw relief wash over Hyunjin. “Wait for me after herbology on Wednesday, and make sure Heejin leaves.”

When Hyunjin surged forward to kiss Jungeun’s cheek, the blonde pretended to gag.

“You’re a life saver, Jungie.”

 

\---

 

Hyunjin never expected to be in such a situation when Jungeun agreed to help her. She thought maybe she would give her some tips and help her choose a proper outfit, not that she would be sitting with a way too tight bowtie around her neck having a fake date with Hyejoo.

“I don’t see how you having a fake mustache is going to help me.” Hyunjin deadpanned at Jungeun who was having too much fun pretending to be Hyejoo’s dad and making Jiwoo, her wife in this scenario, laugh.

“We’re having a very realistic simulation,” Hyejoo repeated for the third time that evening, as she was somehow invested in her friends’ plan. “I just wish Yerim was here, she would love this.”

“Someone needed to distract Heejin, now let’s do this before we get kicked out,” Jungeun had somehow managed to borrow the prefects’ room from Jinsol, but they were only allowed to use it for a short time. Still, they had planned everything, and Hyunjin complaining was something they had foreseen. “Now, Hyunjin, I hear you like quidditch.”

When Jiwoo burst out laughing, Jungeun couldn’t help but follow her and Hyejoo offered a pitiful look at Hyunjin.

“Dad, please.”

Sometimes Hyunjin wanted to punch Hyejoo.

“Right, sorry sweetie,” Jungeun cleared her throat and fixed the cheap fake mustache on her face.

“Hyunjin, Hye- Heejin here tells us you are amazing at quidditch.” Jiwoo tried, changing her voice tone to what Hyunjin assumes is supposed to mimic Heejin’s mom’s tone.

“No, Heejin here told you I made her life impossible and you hate me!” Hyunjin said exasperatedly, tugging at her bowtie already getting fed up from her friends’ silliness.

“How many times do we have to tell you Heejin explained everything to her parents? They just want to meet you to make sure you’re legit,” Jiwoo shrugged and winced a bit when Hyunjin glared at her.

“Exactly, I have a lot to prove and you’re not helping,”

“Hey, watch it,” Jungeun pointed a finger at her for being too mean to Jiwoo.

“Girls, please,” Hyunjin was _desperate_. When she dropped her head onto the table, Hyejoo patted her back comfortingly and scolded the girls who finally stopped laughing and understood the weight of Hyunjin’s situation. “What will I ever do if her parents don’t like me? Heekkie means so much to me; I don’t want to let her down.”

“Stupid, there’s nothing you could do to make Heejin love you less. And you won’t let anyone down, _not_ on my watch,” Jungeun stood up solemnly and gave Hyunjin a smile that did little to comfort her. “I will make Heejin’s parents love you if it’s the last thing I do.”

Hyunjin regretted ever coming to Jungeun in the first place.

 

\---

 

“Hyun, baby, please breathe,” Heejin whispered with an amused smile as she squeezed Hyunjin’s hand under the table. They were hiding behind the menu as Heejin’s parents read their own, politely pretending not to notice Hyunjin having a breakdown.

Everything had started smoothly; Hyunjin showed up to Heejin’s dorm wearing Jungeun’s blazer and with her hair neatly braided by Jiwoo, making Heejin swoon (step one, complete); she had made sure they showed up at the restaurant her girlfriend chose ten minutes earlier, then gave Heejin’s parents a bouquet of flowers when they arrived.

But Hyunjin couldn’t help but feel like the adults didn’t like her _at all._ The woman gave her a smile that didn’t reach her eyes and the man insisted on shaking her hand tightly, instead of simply bowing.

“Have you girls decided?” Heejin’s dad spoke up, closing the menu and smiling at his daughter fondly. Noticing her girlfriend was probably not in the best place to speak up, she squeezed her hand one more time and smiled back at her dad before ordering for both of them.

They ate in silence, save for Heejin animatedly talking about school and the new hobby she had found with Jiwoo.

(“Coast playing?”

" _Cosplaying,_ mom.”)

Hyunjin did an effort to eat her food despite the knot in her stomach, gulping nervously under Heejin’s dad scrutinizing gaze.

“So, Hyunjin,” The man began as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Heejin told me you like quidditch.”

_I can’t believe that idiot was right…_

“Yes, sir, it’s my passion- although not more important than my studies, that’s for sure.”

“She’s really good,” Heejin complimented Hyunjin, looking whipped without even knowing. “The best seeker slytherin has seen in years.”

Hyunjin smiled back at Heejin lovingly, their hands mindlessly finding each other on top of the table.

They were too busy with each other to notice the adults exchanging a knowing look.

 

When everyone got up to leave, Hyunjin was practically counting the seconds until she could go back to the safety of the castle, free of judging parents. But then Heejin’s mom reached out to hold her hand, and this time when she smiled at Hyunjin it was with sincerity.

“It’s been lovely to meet you, Hyunjin. I can tell you care about my daughter.”

“Deeply, ma’am, with all my heart,” Hyunjin assured the woman, blushing when Heejin giggled and rested her head on her shoulder before looping their arms together. “It was my pleasure to share this meal with you.”

_Jiwoo would be proud…_

“You’re a good kid,” Heejin’s dad grabbed Hyunjin’s shoulder, the one that wasn’t occupied by Heejin. The extra pressure applied didn’t go unnoticed to Hyunjin but she succeeded in keeping a straight face. “Take care.”

“You too, sir.”

Heejin and Hyunjin waved at the adults before they disapparated and once they were gone; Hyunjin let out a heavy huff and rested her weight against her knees.

“I survived!”

“Idiot,” Heejin laughed and cupped Hyunjin’s cheeks to kiss her lips. “You did so well.”

“I hope they think so too,” Hyunjin’s eyes were closed and she looked exhausted, understandably so. “But it went well, yeah.”

“Hmm, come on, let’s get going before we miss curfew.”

 

When they walked into the gryffindor common room hand in hand, they found Jiwoo and Jungeun snuggling in one of the couches near the fireplace.

“So?” Jungeun perked up as soon as she spotted the girls, almost knocking Jiwoo off from top of her.

“Parent approved… I think.” Hyunjin held up a hesitant thumbs-up although her face didn’t show much positivity.

“She was perfect, she always is” Heejin replied, making Jungeun roll her eyes and Jiwoo coo.

Hyunjin dropped down in the remaining couch and patted the space next to her, although Heejin decided to sit on her lap instead. Not that Hyunjin complained.

“We will collect our pay soon,” Jungeun added casually once she was back to softly running her fingers through Jiwoo’s hair.

“Your what?” Hyunjin asked a bit out of it, tired from the day and distracted by the kisses Heejin was peppering across her cheeks.

“What, you think we would work for free? Jiwoo and I are considering making this a business.”

“I- You know what? Sure, pick it up whenever you feel like it.”

 

Hyunjin is far too happy feeling Heejin’s smile against her neck to care about her friends’ antics.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> curiouscat is dahyunayeon if you have something to let me know :D thank you for reading

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading! I'm on twitter over at dxhyunism where you can find my curiouscat, dahyunayeon, in case you want it :)


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